Istanbul: Turkish authorities launched an investigation today into allegations that a judge and a prosecutor nodded off during a high-profile trial in Ankara this week.
The country`s top judicial regulatory body ordered the probe after pictures widely circulated on social media showed the two apparently asleep in the trial of a policeman accused of killing a protester during the mass street demonstrations in June.
The Higher Board of Judges and Prosecutors has requested video recordings of Monday`s hearing in the main Ankara court to decide whether further action is needed, local media reports said.
The incident was widely mocked on Twitter, with hundreds of users sharing a picture of graffiti that read "Police shot, judge slept, don`t be silent".
The defendant is accused of shooting 26-year-old Ethem Sarisuluk in Ankara in the first days of the street protests that erupted in June against the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
At Monday`s hearing - where the accused policeman appeared in disguise and via videolink - the court withdrew from the case and referred it to a higher tribunal because of concerns voiced by the victim`s family about the tribunal`s impartiality.