No way to investigate corruption allegations

İstanbul's chief prosecutor has appointed two other prosecutors to the investigation, as the Ministry of Justice demanded. The explanation of these actions is that they were taken to speed up the process. However, the chief prosecutor sent a written circular demanding the three prosecutors come to any conclusion by a majority vote, which means that any decision taken by the team must be endorsed by at least two prosecutors. If your primary concern were really speeding up the process, requiring a majority vote would be the last thing you would do.

However, all suspects were sent to the court to be arrested by unanimous votes, and these suspects include the general director of Halkbank and the sons of two Cabinet ministers who have not yet resigned and instead continue to attack the investigation. The evidence and allegations must be quite concrete if all the prosecutors saw no alternative to arresting the suspects. But this doesn't mean that the investigation won't be interrupted when some try to broaden its scope, if that's even possible.

And as if all that weren't enough, the government has now changed the procedural rules of the police.

Before legal changes in 2005, it was almost impossible for prosecutors to collect evidence in cases involving crimes committed by pubic servants, police, military and government officials, who would immediately learn of any investigation into them and take action to block it. The legal changes made it so police reported only to prosecutors in judicial investigations. Police and gendarmerie officers were obligated to follow prosecutors' orders and inform them only about any evidence and documents pertaining to the alleged crime.

These changes allowed, for example, investigations into allegations of bribery and corruption involving the interior minister's son. The government is now accusing the police of failing to inform their superiors, who would of course have informed the minister himself. With the government's changes to the bylaws of the police, now police officers involved in any investigation under the orders of a prosecutor have to inform their superiors about it. This gravely undermines the judiciary and is a great loss for democracy and human rights. If it remains in force, it will allow government officials to learn of any corruption investigation into them as soon as it begins, but will also make investigations into police violence and torture impossible.

And now, finally, the government has banned journalist from entering police stations, and press booths were removed from these buildings. This is another serious blow to press freedoms, of course.

Why has all of this been done? To speed up justice, to help prosecutors and the police and to discover the truth? If you believe that!