Fresh indictment reveals alleged details of ByLock app

DENİZLİ – Anadolu Agency

Prosecutors in the western province of Denizli have prepared an indictment against 60 suspects with alleged links to July 15 coup attempt due to their use of ByLock, an app that is suspected to be widely used for internal communication among Gülenists, who are believed to have masterminded the putsch. 

The 20-dossier, 143-page document that was accepted by a Denizli court included details about the application’s creation and use.          

The indictment alleged that the application’s wide usage among the members of the outlawed group started after its leader, U.S.-based preacher Fethullah Gülen, instructed his adherences to use it saying “all members should make their communications using the application. Those who communicate through regular ways on phone would be regarded as betraying the service.”  

The usage of ByLock could show evidence of links to Gülen, according to a Turkish-origin U.S. citizen, who has been revealed to be the patent holder for the app.

David Keynes, who acquired American citizenship and changed his name with inspiration from British economist John Maynard Keynes, told daily Hürriyet in an interview in New York on Oct. 16 that he agreed using ByLock could be construed as evidence of Gülenist links, although not in all cases, noting that he himself installed the app but never used it because he did not add anyone.

Meanwhile in an Istanbul-based investigation, prosecutors issued warrants against some 123 police officers, 81 of whom are detained, for allegedly using ByLock.