Turkish hacker network RedHack not a 'terrorist group,' prosecutors rule

ISTANBUL

Ankara prosecutors probing Redhack for a cyber attack targeting the Ankara Police Department's website on February 2012 had declared a mistrial after 10 of its members were charged with being members of an 'armed terrorist organization.'

Turkish hacker group RedHack was cleared in a terrorism probe opened by the Ankara Prosecutor's Office on May 9, on the grounds that its activities did not contain violence. 

Ankara prosecutors probing Redhack for a cyber attack targeting the Ankara Police Department's website on February 2012 had declared a mistrial after 10 of its members were charged with being members of an "armed terrorist organization."

Prosecutors argued that although RedHack was an "illegal organization," its actions did not contain violence and therefore its members could not be judged under terrorism laws. Three members of RedHack, all students, have been detained for nine months throughout the ongoing trial.

The prosecutors also decided to convey the complaints filed on the hacker group to the Cyber Crimes Office.

Despite the trial, RedHack had continued its actions and hacked the websites of several institutions, including Turkey's Higher Education Board (YÖK), the Interior and Foreign Ministries, and the Constitutional Court.

Last week, RedHack members hacked the Istanbul Governor's Office's website in retaliation for the police crackdown on this year's May Day demonstrations, which were backed up by Istanbul Governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu.