Gülen is prime suspect in case of plot against former CHP head Baykal

ANKARA

After seven years of investigation, an Ankara prosecutor has filed the indictment regarding the publication of private visual and sound recordings of former main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal and a number of Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputies, citing U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen as the prime suspect in the case.

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s office filed the indictment on 171 suspects, including 164 police officers and Gülen, who is believed to have mastermind the July 2016 coup attempt. They are mostly charged with “being a member of an armed terrorist organization,” “violating the right to privacy,” and “capturing personal information unlawfully.”

Private images showing Baykal and former CHP lawmaker Nesrin Baytok in flagrante delicto were published on May 6, 2010, prompting Baykal to resign as leader and Baytok to leave politics. Images of a number of MHP members were later published on April 26, 2011.

In the indictment it is stated that the images were recorded by “police officers who are members of the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization [FETÖ]” and accused them of “designing politics by recording plots, trying to determine the leadership of opposition parties, and directing politics in accordance with its organizational aims.”

The indictment stated that the suspected police officers copied the keys of Nesrin Baytok’s home, installed recording devices in the house, and recorded images in April 2010.

It was stated that the images were provided to currently jailed journalist Cevheri Güven and published on the website habervaktim.com.