The Council of Europe called today (17 October) on restoring the immunity of members of parliament, which was infringed by an amendment.
In its report the Venice Commission says that the constitutional amendment of 12 April was “a misuse of the constitutional amendment procedure”. In the current situation in Turkey, parliamentary inviolability is an essential guarantee for the functioning of parliament; the current situation in the Turkish Judiciary makes this the worst possible moment to abolish inviolability.
Venice Commission also stresses that freedom of expression of MPs is an essential part of democracy, and the non-violent pursuit of non-violent political goals such as regional autonomy cannot be the subject of criminal prosecution.
October 17, 2016
You may download the report from here.