Prosecutor objects to release of Turkish PM's wiretapping suspects

ANKARA

Although the prosecutor had demanded the arrest of five of the 11 suspects as part of the investigation, the court released all of the suspects pending trial. AA Photo

An Ankara prosecutor has objected to the release of five suspected police officers detained as part of an investigation into the illegal wiretapping of the prime minister’s office.

The prosecutor’s remarks come just a day after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan publicly complained about their release.

Although the prosecutor had demanded the arrest of five of the 11 suspects as part of the investigation, the court released all of the suspects pending trial. Speaking in Istanbul on June 22, Erdoğan criticized their release.

“I have an objection. How would you respond to people wiretapping your bedroom if you accept the prime minister being wiretapped as normal?” Erdoğan said.

Erdoğan made public on Dec. 21, 2012 that wiretapping devices had been found in his office and home, calling the move open espionage. An Ankara prosecutor, dealing with anti-terror cases on the grounds that it involved an espionage-related crime, immediately launched an investigation with the support of the National Intelligence Organization (MİT).

Erdoğan and government members blamed security forces tied to Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen for the wiretapping, claiming they had even wiretapped the president, the parliamentary speaker and the chief of General Staff in order to blackmail them.