The law’s delays, the insolence of office

Dozens of former bankers are on trial in Turkey for allegedly stealing $17 billion from the 20 banks that have been seized by the government since the end of the 1990s. None of the trials has ended, while some of the cases have entered their third year. If Murat Demirel’s case is typical, it seems they might go on for ever.

Demirel, a scion of one of Turkey’s most powerful political families, was arrested soon after Egebank, a small bank he owned, was seized in December 1999.