Independent Istanbul MP Ahmet Şık is to be deprived of parliamentary immunity. The reason given to this request is a statement by the parliamentarian about the protests at Boğaziçi University.
Ankara Public Prosecutor's Office wants to strip independent MP Ahmet Şık of parliamentary immunity. An investigation report demanding this has been submitted to the Turkish Ministry of Justice.
The 51-year-old MP, who is one of the most prominent investigative journalists in Turkey, is accused of having publicly incited crimes on the basis of Article 214 of the Turkish Penal Code. The “evidence” for this is a statement relating to the student protests against the appointment of the rector at Istanbul's Boğaziçi University by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. If there is a conviction, Şık faces imprisonment from six months to five years.
The Office for the Prosecution of MPs, which reports to the General Prosecutor of Ankara, justified the investigation against Şık with the statement on the release of students arrested in the course of the protests against the appointment of Melih Bulu as head of the prestigious Boğaziçi University. Şık had said that it was a “mistaken belief” to assume that the AKP would disappear from the scene if defeated at the election. Mafia could not be fought with laws that came from the pen of the rulers. In order to fight for basic principles of universal legal norms, it is the duty of the citizens to stand by the resistance of the students in solidarity.”
Not the first procedure
Several preliminary proceedings are pending against Ahmet Şık. Most recently, in early November, three reports demanding the lifting of his immunity were submitted by the Ankara Public Prosecutor's Office to the Constitutional Commission and the parliamentary presidency of the Turkish National Assembly.
