Judge Yıldırım denies ‘supreme court imam' allegations
Supreme Court of Appeals Judge Hüseyin Yıldırım refuted allegations on Tuesday that he was an “imam of the supreme court” acting on behalf of Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.
According to a report by the Cumhuriyet daily on Tuesday, Justice and Development (AK Party) Vice Chairman Mehmet Ali Şahin had sent a sealed envelope to the Supreme Court of Appeals which contained information claiming that a judge with the pseudonym “Muaz bin Cebel” was carrying out duties on behalf of the Gülen-inspired Hizmet movement. The report revealed the name of the judge written in the envelope to be Yıldırım.
The report stated that according to Şahin, a case involving an important businessman who had been convicted in a criminal case had reached the supreme court. A file detailing the case was then sent to Pennsylvania -- evidently referring to Gülen, who resides in the US state -- requesting advice on how the case should be decided.
“The headline news published in the Jan. 28 edition of Cumhuriyet is completely made up. It is fabricated slander,” said Yıldırım in a statement published on the Turkish Justice Academy website, adding that he planned to pursue every legal channel.
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