“Isle of Man” damages against CHP Leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu overturned on appeal

The appeal court has overturned the damages awarded against CHP General Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu to AKP General Chair and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for his “Isle of Man” claims.

CHP sources speaking to BirGün said the damages award had been overturned and the lawyers would give detailed information about the matter and provide a statement within a short time.

WHAT HAPPENED?

At his party’s group meeting, Kılıçdaroğlu had shown SWIFT messages and transaction slips pertaining to the sending of eighteen million dollars in 2011 to an off-shore company on the Isle of Man, described as a tax haven, by Erdoğan’s son, brother, brother-in-law, son’s father-in-law and former executive assistant. Subsequently, Erdoğan and his relatives had sued for damages against Kılıçdaroğlu and a ruling awarding damages had been issued.

In the reasoned ruling in which 698,000 lira “Isle of Man” damages were awarded against Kılıçdaroğlu to Erdoğan and his relatives, three courts in Istanbul declared the bank transaction slips that Kılıçdaroğlu submitted to the court to be unlawful evidence. One court dismissed the application for Erdoğan's relatives’ account movements to be investigated, declaring these to be a “commercial secret.” Another court, in turn, said in its ruling, “The description attributed to the claimant is of a nature that will affect his political future.”

FROM THE STATEMENT OF CLAIM

In the statement of claim submitted by President Erdoğan's lawyer Ahmet Özel to Istanbul Duty Penal Court of First Instance, it is stated that CHP General Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, having indicated that he would disclose certain documents at his party’s 21 November 2017 group meeting, alleged that President Erdoğan and his relatives had made million-dollar fund transfers abroad.

It is alleged in the submission that the defendant Kılıçdaroğlu had defamed President Erdoğan and his relatives by casting aspersions with papers which he waved in his hand on 28 November 2017 purporting, “I am proving that millions of dollars in funds were sent abroad” but which he did not show or distribute to the press and were of uncertain identity.

Kılıçdaroğlu's speeches in question were included in the submission in which it is alleged that Kılıçdaroğlu continued in the speech he in turn made at his party’s group meeting on 13 February 2018 in a persistent manner to level accusations that targeted President Erdoğan and were debasing, derogatory and untrue. (EVRENSEL DAILY)