Indictment prepared based on government media headline
Reminiscent of the postmodern coup era, in which illegitimate court cases were opened based on newspaper clips, an indictment on the illegal bugging of then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's office back in 2011 was prepared according to a staunchly pro-government newspaper's headline targeting the faith-based Hizmet movement.
Although three years have passed since the bugging of President Erdoğan's office in Ankara was discovered, an indictment has been prepared against police chiefs who were detained on June 14 and released later and who, it was claimed, had been spying to obtain confidential information from the state.
The government daily Sabah ran a headline on Friday which read “Whatever Sabah said,” in an announcement that the indictment was based on their earlier headline that connected the spying on Erdoğan with the Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen, who inspired the Hizmet movement and lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania. Sabah, whose ownership is controversial as the government allegedly instructed businessmen close to Erdoğan to buy the newspaper, had run a story arguing that the bugs found in the prime minister's office were connected to Pennsylvania -- a reference to Gülen. Quoting President Erdoğan's latest remarks on the tapping scandal before his departure to Algeria, Sabah said that Erdoğan confirmed that the “spying network” is connected to Gülen.
The investigation on spying started two and a half years ago and the prosecutor of the case has been changed three times, yet no concrete evidence against the suspects has been found. It turned out that the 72-page indictment was based on the newspaper clips of government dailies, a report by the National Intelligence Organization (MİT), a report by the Prime Ministry's Inspection Board and the statements of a secret witness who reportedly works in the company that sells the bugs.
Prosecutor Durak Çetin summited the indictment to the court this week as he requested an arrest warrant for 12 police officers and the former Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) Deputy President Hasan Palaz. The primary allegation against the suspects is “political organized spying.” Earlier, Palaz -- who was first a witness but is now a suspect in the case -- argued that TÜBİTAK was pressured to issue a report stating that the bugs were placed on a given date. Sabah has ran several manipulative headlines on the case in an effort to create a negative perception about the police chiefs although none of the three prosecutors has been able to find any evidence.
During the infamous Feb. 28 era, many politically motivated cases were opened based on newspaper clips. In the times when the military conducted political campaigns, generals used to talk to the media and their statements would be debated in the National Security Council (MGK) before a public prosecutor turned them into indictments. The closure case against the governing Justice and Development (AK Party) was also opened with an indictment including the arguments against the party in the newspaper clips. Liberal observers called the case a “Google indictment” due to the lack of concrete evidence. Similar tactics are on the agenda under the rule of a government that has been a victim of politically motivated legal cases.
The first prosecutor of the case was Şadan Sakınan, who later was dismissed from the case and replaced by Hussein Şahin, Durak Çetin and Sadık Bayındır with special prerogatives. After the changes that the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) made over the summer, the case was transferred to Veli Dalgalı, who said that there was not enough evidence and so no progress was made in the investigation. As a result, the case once against returned to Durak Çetin, who asked TÜBİTAK to prepare a report on the case. TÜBİTAK Deputy President Hasan Palaz argued that he was dismissed from his job on Feb. 5, 2014 because his report on the bugging case was not liked by the government and that he had been subject to pressure by the political authorities.
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