Turkey’s Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) has suspended Judge Ayşe Sarısu Pehlivan over her social media posts in support of leftist Grup Yorum member İbrahim Gökçek who recently passed away after a lengthy hunger strike, the Cumhuriyet newspaper reported on Friday.
Judge Pehlivan has been removed from the bench for a period of three months while the HSK moves forward with an investigation into her.
After her messages in support of Gökçek, Pehlivan was targeted by pro-government media outlets, which accused her supporting terrorism.
Gökçek was prosecuted for alleged membership in a left-wing terrorist organization, and his band was prohibited from giving concerts.
Gökçek and Helin Bölek, another band member, went on a hunger strike while in prison to protest the prosecution of the group.
Both were later released but did not survive the long hunger strike.
