The Turkish justice system is being tough in the Abdullah Zeydan case. The Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) has opened an investigation into the court that restored the Kurdish politician's civil rights, including those to run for political office.

The HSK is investigating the members of the 5th criminal chamber for serious crimes in Amed (Diyarbakır), the Turkish service of Deutsche Welle reported on Thursday.

The decision to investigate came just one day after Zeydan received his certificate of appointment as mayor of the Kurdish city of Van (Wan). The DEM candidate was elected on Sunday with 55 percent of the vote. Yet, the candidate from the Islamist ruling party AKP, who was far behind with 27.1 percent, was appointed mayor. According to DEM information, Zeydan's right to stand as a candidate was briefly revoked at the initiative of the Ministry of Justice.

The background to the action was that the 5th Criminal Chamber in Diyarbakır revised its own decision from 2022 after an objection from the Ministry of Justice. At that time, Zeydan had applied to regain all civil rights after a prison sentence. The court approved the application at the time, but withdrew its own decision just two days before the election without informing Zeydan.

A statement released afterward by the Van regional election committee, said that Zeydan had forfeited his political rights because of the conviction. The 52-year-old was arrested in 2016 and later sentenced to just over eight years in prison for “supporting and making propaganda for a terrorist organization”.

The HSK, which is responsible, among other things, for disciplinary control of the courts, bases the investigation on an “incorrect decision” by the Diyarbakır Criminal Chamber. This would have restored Zeydan's civil rights far too early, namely before the statutory repayment period of three years had expired. However, since the decision has been legally binding since April last year, it can no longer be appealed, and certainly cannot be overturned by a criminal chamber.

The only possibility that Turkish criminal law offers to revoke Zeydan's civil rights is an objection from the Ministry of Justice "in favor of the law". However, only the Court of Cassation (Yargıtay), Turkey's highest appeal court, can overturn the decision. But until that happens, Zeydan will remain in office. If the Court of Cassation actually makes a decision to annul Zeydan's election as mayor, the city council in Van would have to appoint a successor. But the DEM party is in the majority there.