"Extrajudicial Actions Taken Against Gülen Despite His Acquittal"
Orhan Erdemli, the attorney for Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, has said despite the fact that his client was acquitted of all charges in every court case launched so far, he continues to face extrajudicial, ill-founded defamation efforts.
Erdemli released a written statement on Wednesday countering claims against Gülen recently publicized by some media outlets. Drawing attention to such news coverage, he stressed that claims indicating that Gülen’s followers are infiltrating and getting organized in public institutions and managing the Ergenekon investigation are all untrue. Erdemli argued that the media organizations in question are trying to manipulate public opinion.
"Delusive scenarios, such as that police raids were carried out against leaders of schools, foundations and associations countering Gülen schools, were made up to incriminate my client," read Erdemli’s statement.
Noting that such defamatory campaigns against Gülen have also been carried out in the past, Erdemli said Gülen had been tried many times for such untruthful coverage. "Despite all the effort of the groups to influence the judiciary and mislead the public, no element of crime was found during any of the investigations conducted in Turkey and abroad. An independent judiciary acquitted Gülen unanimously. This acquittal was approved by the Supreme Court of Appeals, whose High Criminal General Council rejected an appeal request, making the decision permanent," he wrote in the statement.
Erdemli further argued that despite this definite ruling, such publications continue to be made to polarize society and create opposing fronts within it. Pointing to the fact that every day another arms cache is found as part of the ongoing Ergenekon investigation, he asked: "These weapons were hidden in the ground to further what aims? Why are some groups so uneasy with investigations carried out by an independent judiciary? Why are people who filed lawsuits against Gülen now expressing distrust of the judiciary?"
The statement concludes by describing Gülen's ethnically, culturally and religiously pluralist approach. "Mr. Fethullah Gülen is going to continue his friendly reception of everybody, Turks, Kurds, Alevis, Sunnis, majorities, minorities or whoever they might be, coming from East, West, North, South or wherever they might come from, on the denominator of humanity and with his understanding of love, unity and togetherness, and respect for different beliefs, all of which are derived from his faith."
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