Lack of grounds for legal action against Fethullah Gülen

Today's Zaman

The specially authorized Ankara Deputy Prosecutor's Office announced on Friday that it had found a lack of grounds for legal action taken against renowned Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen in an investigation launched against him -- which were based on allegations of a controversial book written by now-arrested Police Chief Hanefi Avcı.

In his book released last year “Haliç'te Yaşayan Simonlar” (Simons in the Golden Horn) Avcı argues that the Ergenekon trial is a conspiracy run by the government to silence its critics but acknowledges he has no proof to back up his claims. He also asserts judges and prosecutors investigating military plots to topple the government are linked to Gülen, who he accuses of secretly planning to overthrow the institutions of the state, including the police.

Gülen strongly denies the charges.

The deputy prosecutor's office ruled that there is lack of grounds for further investigation of Gülen and also the individual cited in the book with the initials O.H.Ö over charges of “establishing a criminal organization to change the constitutional order and become members of this organization.”

The investigation into Gülen and O.H.Ö. was launched on August 20, 2010. In its ruling, the deputy prosecutor's office stated that the accusations in the book are not based on evidence and that they are abstract allegations. The ruling also included a summary of Avcı's six-page long deposition he gave to Ankara Deputy Public Prosecutor's Office on August 29, 2010.

The deputy prosecutor's office in its decision also summarized the deposition of O.H.Ö. that he made on October 25, 2010. It said O.H.Ö. denies all accusations in the book against him. A search in O.H.Ö.'s house and workplace revealed no traces of evidence of his involvement in any wrongdoing.

In September 2010, Avcı was arrested by an İstanbul court due to his suspected ties with the Revolutionary Headquarters, a leftist-terrorist organization behind a deadly attack that took place in İstanbul in 2009.

Indeed, a criminal case investigating similar accusations and claims against Gülen ended with his acquittal on all charges, and this acquittal was upheld in the appellate courts, as well. In its reasoned decision in 2006, the Ankara 11th High Criminal Court said: “There is no evidence proving that Gülen aimed to change the constitutional system or to resort to force and violence. On the contrary, he was threatened by fundamentalist terrorist organizations for his friendly attitudes towards the state.” This reasoned decision makes it clear that claims surrounding Gülen's intent on changing the constitutional system were not substantiated.

Published on Today's Zaman, 27 May 2011, Friday