Turkey violating UN judge’s diplomatic immunity: UN court
Turkey has violated a UN judge’s diplomatic immunity after arresting him as part of its post-coup crackdown, says a UN court.
The president of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT), Theodor Meron, told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday that Ankara has been ignoring requests to visit Judge Aydin Sedaf Akay since he was detained in September.
"The UN Office of Legal Affairs has requested his release from detention and the cessation of all legal proceedings against him," he added.
Meron noted that Akay’s arrest violates both his diplomatic immunity and his judicial independence.
At the time of his detention, Akay was scheduled to preside over the appeal case of a Rwandan politician sentenced in 2012 to 35 years in prison over genocide charges.
"As a result of his detention, the proceedings have come to a standstill," said Meron.
In 2009, Akay, a former diplomat, was appointed as a judge on the UN tribunal trying Rwanda genocide perpetrators. He later became a judge on MICT, which succeeded the tribunal.
The July 15 coup in Turkey began when a faction of the military declared it was in control of the country and the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was no more in charge.
Tanks, helicopters, and soldiers clashed with police and people on the streets of Ankara and Istanbul. Between 200 and 300 people were killed on all sides in the attempted coup d’état.
A state of emergency was first imposed a few days after the putsch bid. It was prolonged for another 12 weeks in October.
Emergency decrees have since extended the period of police detention without judicial review from four to 30 days and allowed the authorities to deny detainees access to lawyers for up to five days.
The government in Ankara has launched a sweeping crackdown on those believed to have played a role in the failed coup.
It has arrested over 35,000 people and sacked over 100,000 others over their suspected links with Fethullah Gulen, a US-based cleric blamed for orchestrating the coup attempt. Gulen rejects the accusation.
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