EP liberal member: We are very concerned about independence of judiciary

One of the influential members of the EP, German liberal Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, said on Thursday that he was very concerned about the independence of the judiciary after so many police chiefs were removed and two more prosecutors were added to the prosecution team after the investigation had started.

Lambsdorff also reacted to the sacking of Nazlı Ilıcak, one of the most senior columnists in Turkey, from the pro-government Sabah daily after she called for the resignation of three ministers whose sons were detained in the probe.

“It is another regrettable example, again involving Sabah, which fired Yavuz Baydar earlier. This shows that while the government may say media freedom exists, in practice, in the lives of journalists and columnists it is not so. This is a worrying trend. Freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom in the media are the first among equals of all fundamental rights and therefore, this is something we are very worried about,” said Lambsdorff.

The German politician, who is the vice chairman of his group in the EP and shadow Turkey rapporteur, emphasized that the fact that so many police chiefs had been removed from office created concern in Brussels. “Sacking so many police chiefs and the reassignment of prosecutors is something that raises the greatest concerns about the independence of the judiciary and the due process of law,” said Lambsdorff, noting also that as the events are still unfolding, his initial impression might be incomplete.

“I would underline what the commission has said. If corruption occurred, it needs to be prosecuted and needs to be prosecuted in a fair and impartial manner without interference from those who are being prosecuted or feel they are being prosecuted,” said the German liberal.  

He stressed that there were different types of corruption -- isolated or widespread, high-level or low level -- but Lambsdorff said the worst kind is high-level corruption among highly paid public servants or politicians.

“High-level corruption is particularly corrosive in society and particularly damaging to the fiber of society because it sends a very bad signal to the entire country. If you have people in very high positions who have good salaries to begin with involved in schemes like this, people at all levels of society then will say ‘If they can do it, we can do it as well.' All of a sudden you go from isolated cases of corruption to endemic widespread corruption. That is what so worries me about it. If Turkey wants a good future, corruption is not the way to go,” he said.