Two suspects released in latest wiretapping case

İZMİR - Anadolu Agency

DHA Photo

Two Turkish policemen detained in connection with an illegal-wiretapping probe have been released on bail, an İzmir court said on Feb. 2.

The two high-profile police officers, Memduh Tosun and Taner Aydın, were arrested last week and questioned for 18 hours.

Earlier, the İzmir prosecutor’s office issued warrants for the arrest of 26 policemen - including Tosun and Aydın - in İzmir, Ankara and Istanbul, on charges of being involved in illegal wiretapping.

Fourteen of the suspects were referred to court with a recommendation they face charges; the other 12 were released but prohibited from leaving the country. However, the İzmir court only went ahead with proceedings against Tosun and Aydın.

The pair was suspected of “forming an organization to commit crime, forgery of official documents, fabricating crimes, slander, breaching private life and recording personal data.”

According to the İzmir governorate, 92 people, including high-ranking army officers, academics, senior policemen and journalists, were illegally wiretapped between 2009 and 2013.

To date, hundreds of police officers have been detained and questioned in the alleged wiretapping probe.

Earlier in 2014, a similar operation was launched in İzmir and 13 other provinces, in which 32 suspects were detained after a newspaper story revealed several public servants were being illegally wiretapped. All the suspects were later released by the court pending trial.

The continued operations follow a December 2013 probe which led to the arrest of several high-profile figures, including the sons of three former government ministers and leading business people. All those detained in the operation were later released pending trial.
  
U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, the leader of the so-called “parallel structure,” is seen as responsible for the graft probe and illegal wiretappings, referred to as a “coup attempt” by the government.