All 27 Police Officers Detained On Charges Of Illegal Organization Released

Another initiative by the government to portray a number of members of the police force as plotting against the state collapsed after all 27 senior police officers were released pending trial in the wake of their detention on Tuesday in Mersin.

Nine of the 27 police officers were released by a prosecutor hours after being taken into custody and giving testimony, and the remaining 18 were released early on Friday.

Thus, the charges leveled at the police officers -- membership in a criminal organization and illegal wiretapping, seemingly a perception that the government is trying to create in the absence of concrete evidence -- were not upheld by a court ruling for release of the police chiefs and officers.

Some of the detained police officers said they were targeted because they conducted a probe investigating genetically modified rice in Mersin that implicated several government ministers. Others said they did not know under what pretense they had been charged. “They have accused us of being members of an illegal organization. When we ask for evidence, they just tell us to shut up,” one of the officers told the press.

Among the officers who were released were former Mersin Police Department Intelligence Unit Chiefs Ali Çengelci and Ali İhsan Kaya, and police officers Yavuz Efe and İlyas Avcı. Before the decision granting their release, Çengelci was sent to Mersin State Hospital for a health screening. While being taken to the Mersin Courthouse, he responded to a question about the reason for his detention. "They charged us with being members of an illegal organization but they could not provide us with any evidence," he stated.

The police chiefs and officers were greeted with cheers following the decision for their release. A crowd gathered in front of the courthouse and chanted slogans such as “The valiant hearts are here, where are the thieves?”

In a statement to the press following his release, Çengelci said he and his colleagues were at the courthouse to recount their actions. “We have been transparent about what we have done to date [in accordance with the laws]. We will move on. We are not happy since some of our friends in İstanbul are under arrest. The day they are released will be a day of true joy for us. When that day arrives, we will all be happy."

Stressing that he and the other police officers had been detained because of accusations of illegal wiretapping, Çengelci added: "All wiretapping activities were carried out in compliance with court orders. The claims of illegal surveillance were kicked off by certain reports prepared by inspectors, followed by administrative investigations of us. So, we told the prosecutor and the judge that all of our activities were in line with the law and that we have fought against terrorism and organized crime for the security of our people. Our words have not fallen on deaf ears. Thanks to the judge, we were finally released."

The court decided to release all the detained police officers, arguing that there was inadequate evidence to hold them.

The sweeping operations and investigations of the police force came just after a massive corruption scandal that went public on Dec. 17, implicating then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's family and his associates, as well as several then-ministers.

Since the revelation, Erdoğan has accused the faith-based Hizmet movement of masterminding a plot against his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and vowed to conduct a “witch hunt” against members of the movement and those who are thought to have links to the civil society group.

However, most of the operations targeting police chiefs and officers via fabricated accusations based on inspectors' reports have failed to yield the results that Erdoğan apparently intended.

Inspectors' reports provide basis for detentions

Conducting a massive purge of police officers since the corruption scandal was exposed last December, the government masterminded a defamation campaign against those considered to be part of a "parallel structure," referring to the movement.

However, Erdoğan is reported to be enraged by the release of many police officers who had earlier been detained.

Most of the investigations were based on reports prepared by inspectors from the National Police Department, as well the Interior Ministry.

The reports, which apparently lack any concrete evidence, have been used as the basis to launch sweeping investigations of the police force. This has in turn led to the decisions by special courts, recently established by the government and bestowed with extraordinary powers, to detain and arrest the officers.

Similar reports have been used in various operations in different provinces across Turkey, and include accusations of spying, illegal wiretapping and plotting against the government.

The investigation of the police in Mersin came one week after one in which 18 senior police officers in Ankara were detained on Oct. 20 when accusations were made of their involvement in illegal wiretapping and the outlawed Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK). All of the officers were released within days after the Ankara Penal Court of Peace rejected the prosecutor's request for the arrest of the officers.

Many senior police officers who took part in investigations against members of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), as well as Sledgehammer (Balyoz) and Ergenekon suspects, who were accused of planning a military coup, also faced a number of administrative and criminal investigations following the release of the same reports.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)