OHD: Constitutional Court decision discrimination

  • 13:16 6 January 2023
  • Law
 
AMED - Reacting to the blocking of HDP's Treasury aid accounts, ÖHD Amed Branch stated that they would follow the process by stating that the decision is an indicator of legal and political discrimination against Kurds.
 
The Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD) Amed Branch made a press statement at the association's buildings regarding the Constitutional Court's (AYM) blocking of HDP's accounts. While ÖHD lawyers participated in the statement, ÖHD Amed Branch Co-chair lawyer Özüm Vurgun read the text.
 
'It is of vital importance in the work'
 
Stating that the Constitutional Court rejected the same injunction requested in the indictment for the closure of the HDP, Özüm stated that when the request was made again on 13 December 2022 on the same issue, he reminded the necessity of "presenting a new and concrete evidence in order to make the same request for the second time".
 
Özüm said, “This injunction decision, which is devoid of any legal justification and without giving the HDP the right to defend the injunction request, is clearly unconstitutional. Treasury aid is a right for political parties and also vital in their work. This decision is a decision that will unlawfully affect the merits of the case, ignoring the clear provisions of the Constitution. Constitution Article 149; The Constitutional Court works in two divisions and the General Assembly. The departments meet under the chairmanship of the vice-chairman with the participation of four members. The General Assembly convenes with at least ten members under the chairmanship of the President of the Court or the deputy chairman to be determined by the President. The Departments and the General Assembly take their decisions by absolute majority. Commissions may be formed for the admissibility review of individual applications. It is said that lawsuits and applications regarding political parties, annulment and objection cases and proceedings to be carried out as the Supreme Court are handled by the General Assembly, and individual applications are decided by the departments.”
 
'It is unconstitutional'
 
Noting that two-thirds majority of the members attending the meeting is a must in order to annul the constitutional amendment, to dissolve the political parties or to deprive them of state aid, Özüm also said that a decision that can be taken by two-thirds majority of the votes of the Constitutional Court pursuant to Article 149/3 of the Constitution is in the 8th paragraph of the Constitutional Court. She pointed out that the acceptance was given by a majority of 7 dissenting votes and therefore the decision was unconstitutional in terms of procedural provisions.
 
'It is aimed to prevent active participation'
 
Özüm stated the following: “It is aimed to prevent HDP from actively participating in legislative activities by cutting Treasury aid and from participating in democratic elections before the elections. In this way, the deputies, who are the representatives of the society, are prevented from performing their duties. According to the constitution, the electorate is represented by proxies. It receives a certain amount of support from the Treasury in order to fulfill its duty of representation. Without this support, the work of a political party will be hampered. This situation leads to results in favor of other political parties. Trying the tried again is an indication of the legal and political discrimination against Kurds and opposition groups. The closure of political parties, which continued the same political tradition, understanding and thought, grew and took their place in the political scene again and continued to grow.
 
We will follow the process
 
The provision of social order is achieved through politics and social reconciliation. This agreement is guaranteed by the rules of law. It is clear that with this decision, there is no legal guarantee and social order cannot be ensured. We call for the immediate reversal of this decision, which is clearly unconstitutional, and we declare that we are following the process.”