Court Arrests 11 Policemen Without Hearing Defense, Lawyers Protest

A Turkish court ordered that 11 more police officers, including a police chief who conducted a sweeping raid against al-Qaeda members in eastern Turkey, be kept in custody pending trial over wiretapping accusations without hearing their defense.

Lawyers protested the lack of due process as "ludicrous."

The court announced its ruling around midnight (21:00 GMT), arresting 11 policemen out of the 49 who were detained, including a former head of the İstanbul anti-terror squad, Yurt Atayün. While the court released 30 policemen completely, 8 of the suspects were given a conditional release.

The court ruling brought to 31 the number of officers who were remanded to custody out of a total of 115 police officers who were detained in overnight raids last week. All the other officers who were detained have been released but may still face charges.

More than 100 police officers, including former senior police chiefs, were detained in an operation that began with pre-dawn raids on Tuesday. The operation, which prosecutors say was launched in response to allegations of spying and illegal wiretapping, is widely believed to be an act of revenge by the government against a corruption probe that became public on Dec. 17, 2013 with the detention of dozens of people, including businessmen close to the government, senior bureaucrats and the sons of three now-former ministers.

Most of the police officers detained were involved in the major graft operation of Dec. 17, as well as officers who carried out the Balyoz (Sledgehammer), Ergenekon, Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) and Tawhid-Salam investigations. Tawhid-Salam is an Iran-backed terrorist organization.

Among the most prominent of the officers taken into custody was Fuat Ali Yılmazer, who oversaw intelligence for İstanbul police and is accused of forming and leading a criminal gang. Others are accused of illegal wiretapping, forging documents and espionage.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who is running for president in the upcoming election on Aug. 10, promised a "witch hunt" against the "parallel state," the name he gave for alleged followers of Fethullah Gülen in the civil service.

The arrests follow a stream of purges targeting the police, judiciary and other state institutions this year which government critics have condemned as a symptom of Erdoğan's tightening grip on power.

The officers were accused of concocting an investigation into an alleged terrorist group linked with Iran as a pretense to tap the phones of Erdoğan, ministers and the country's top spy.

That probe, targeting 251 people, was dismissed due to a lack of evidence after a three-year investigation during which 2,280 people were wire-tapped, a prosecutor said last week.

Serdar Bayraktutan, the police chief who conducted an operation against al-Qaeda militants in eastern Turkey, Erhan Körtek, Ensar Doğan, Aytekin Koçak, Ali Fuat Altuntaş, Abdülkadir Ağır, Yunus Emre Uzunoğlu, Şahin Akdeniz, Muhammed Kaya and Mehmet Örs are the policemen who are currently being detained. Ömer Köse and Gaffur Ataç are among those who have been released.

Earlier on Tuesday, judge İslam Çiçek of the 3rd Criminal Court of Peace said in a preliminary decision that the interrogation of detained policemen began on July 26 and that 32 suspects have been interviewed. He said it is impossible to interview the remaining 17 suspects because the lawyers have attempted to "deadlock" proceedings with what he described as "unnecessary demands."

When the judge said the suspects won't be able to present their defense, the lawyers protested the decision by leaving the courtroom.

Lawyers claimed that their clients' basic right to a fair trial was being violated. (Cihan/Today's Zaman)

SHOTLIST
TURKEY, ISTANBUL, 30 JULY 2014

VAR of Lawyer Ömer Turanlı declare the decision of the court to the press members
VAR of the released policemen get out of the building
Crowd applaud and cheer for the police officers
VAR of the police busses carrying arrested officers arrive to the Metris prison

DURATION: 04:52