Turkish soldier may face 25 years in jail for leaking 'Reyhanlı bombing files'

ISTANBUL – Radikal

Some 53 civilians were killed in Reyhanlı on May 11. Daily News Photo/ Emrah Gürel

A military prosecutor has demanded 25 years imprisonment for the gendarme accused of leaking secret documents on the Reyhanlı bombings-linked terrorist activities in the southern province of Hatay, bordering Syria.

Suspected gendarmerie officer Utku Kalı is being accused of “exposing and providing the state’s secret documents,” in the indictment.

Kalı was arrested on May 24 for leaking the documents, belonging to the Gendarmerie Intelligence Department, claimed that an anti-government group in Syria, al-Nusra Front, with links to al-Qaeda, was planning a car bomb attack that might occur in Turkey.

Some 53 civilians were killed in Reyhanlı on May 11.

It is said in the indictment that Kalı made photocopies of the intelligence documents, taking one copy more than ordered and sent the extra copy to a local newspaper journalist in Istanbul via his mobile phone.

Kalı and the journalist, identified as E.P., had two separate talks the same day according to the indictment. The prosecutor, examining Kalı’s mobile phone memory, used his “keyboard history” as evidence picking up some words from the memory, the indictment said.

Journalist E.P. is also accused of the same criminal act.

Kalı’s trials will be held in Sivas Fifth Training Brigade Command Military Court while E.P.’s file is set to be sent to Amasya Public Prosecutor’s Office since he is “a civilian.”

Turkish hacker group RedHack, which then made the documents public on May 22, shocked Turkey with the alleged assailants of one of the biggest terrorist attacks in country’s history.

However the RedHack denied via Twitter that the Kalı was involved in the leak of the documents.

Kalı suffers from major depression

Kalı’s sister and lawyer Ceren Kalı issued two criminal complaints against the prison officials where his brother was being held about the maltreatment he was facing such as being searched naked after every meeting with his lawyers or family, daily Radikal columnist Pınar Öğünç wrote July 22.

Ceren Kalı also said his brother was suffering a major depression because of the cruel treatment.

Utku Kalı did not suffer from any kind of psychological disorder before joining the army, his sister said.

Ceren Kalı said his brother was forced to apologize for having a nervous breakdown after being hospitalized adding he was not taken to the hospital after other nervous breakdowns.

Utku Kalı’s body was being searched naked after every meeting with outsiders, she also said.

Utku Kalı graduated from Balıkesir University’s Electronic Communication Technologies and was working in informatics sector.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesman Hüseyin Çelik had said May 23, “The case is not a hacking, but rather a leak.”