Five prosecutors involved in Turkish intelligence trucks search removed from duty

Toygun Atilla ISTANBUL

Five public prosecutors involved in the stopping and searching of National Intelligence Organization (MİT) trucks in January 2013 have been removed from their duties by the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK), on the grounds of the “safety of investigations and not harming the judiciary’s influence or reputation.”

The trucks, bound for Syria, caused a crisis after one was stopped on Jan. 1, 2013 in the southern province of Hatay. Another group of trucks was searched by security forces in the southern province of Adana on Jan. 19.

The second chamber of the HSYK decided on Jan. 15 to remove from duty Süleyman Bağrıyanık, Ahmet Karaca, Aziz Takçı, Özcan Şişman and Yaşar Kavalcıklıoğlu, the five prosecutors involved in the incident.

The decision was passed with a majority of votes, and was justified based on “the safety of investigations and not harming the judiciary’s influence and reputation.”

The investigation into the two incidents, conducted by the Adana Public Prosecutor’s Office, was completed on Dec. 16, 2014. It added that 19 more suspects are also set to be tried, in addition to the 13 soldiers whose trials are currently ongoing.

All suspects face charges of “obtaining information that was supposed to be kept secret for the security of the state, and revealing information for the purpose of political or military spying.”

Takçı, who was the public prosecutor for the Zonguldak province, denied he had done anything wrong and said the ones at fault were those attacking them “in order to suppress their guilt,” Doğan News Agency reported.

Similarly, Şişman said he had “not betrayed his land,” added that the ones who had done would be “one day held to account.”