Judge Çiçek Gave Wiretapping Order In Dec. 17 Probe

Judge İslam Çiçek, who ruled for the release of government-affiliated suspects after the Dec. 17 graft and bribery operation, also gave the order for some of the suspects to be wiretapped during the course of the same investigation, according to a court document.

Çiçek played an active role in the graft probe by signing an order on July 9, 2013, asking for the wiretapping of suspect Ahmet Murat Öziş, two phone numbers belonging to Royal Denizcilik, a maritime company affiliated with some of the suspects, Emin Hayyam, Emir Eroğlu and individuals named Kamelya, Bita Saran and Ennaz.

The order appeared on a document prepared by Prosecutor Ekrem Aydıner, who in a controversial move last week said there was a lack of grounds for legal action in the Dec. 17 graft probe.

The highly publicized Dec. 17 graft investigation implicated the sons of several ministers, pro-government businessmen and the general manager of state-run Halkbank. At the heart of the probe was Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab, who was allegedly involved in a money laundering scheme as part of a strategy to bypass US-led sanctions on Iran.

The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office decided there were no grounds for legal action against the suspects -- including Zarrab, Barış Güler (the son of the former interior minister), Salih Kaan Çağlayan (the son of the former economy minister) and former Halkbank General Manager Süleyman Aslan -- because evidence had not been collected properly, there was insufficient evidence, the elements of an offense were nonexistent, and no traces of organized crime were found. The prosecutor's decision attracted widespread criticism.

The document justifying the dropping of the Dec. 17 probe says, “The decision made by the İstanbul 34th Penal Court of Peace [presided over by Judge Çiçek] for the surveillance of the telecommunications [of some suspects] constitutes one of the leading illegitimacies in the dossier.”

The fact that Çiçek also took an active role in the graft probe contradicts claims from the pro-government media that the graft probe investigation was carried out by judges who had been selected by anti-government circles.

Çiçek, aside from ruling for the arrest of 11 police officers who took part in the graft probe, has also ruled on major probes such as the Ergenekon case, concerning a shadowy crime network with alleged links within the state, the Sledgehammer coup plot case and the Kurdistan Communities' Union (KCK) case, an umbrella organization that includes the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Last March, Çiçek also came to media attention due to suspicions about his neutrality when he "liked" a Facebook page created by a group supporting then-Prime Minister and now-President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The page is titled “Allah uzun ömür versin Uzun Adam,” which translates to "May God grant you a long life, Tall Man." Supporters of Erdoğan use the moniker “Uzun Adam” (Tall Man) to describe him.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that Prosecutor Aydıner contradicted himself in dropping the Dec. 17 graft probe because he, along with Public Prosecutor Celal Kara, who launched the graft probe, had ruled for the referral of 14 graft probe suspects, including Zarrab and the sons of the two former ministers, to court for arrest in December of last year. Two other prosecutors, Mustafa Erol and Mehmet Yüzgeç, in addition to Kara and Aydıner, also decided unanimously to refer these suspects to court for arrest.

When the lawyers of the arrested suspects appealed the court's ruling that their clients be arrested, the prosecutors, including Aydıner, voiced the opinion that they should remain under arrest. Later on, Kara and other prosecutors were removed from the investigation, and only Aydıner was left, a move that was seen as direct intervention to hinder the probe.

Aydıner was assigned to the Dec. 17 probe to assist Prosecutor Kara by former İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Turan Çolakkadı.

Following Aydıner's dropping of the Dec. 17 graft probe, the suspects in the investigation gained the right to file for compensation for their “unjust detention or arrest.” In this case, they are also able to file a compensation case against Aydıner, who played an active role in the arrest of the 14 suspects.

Penal Judges of Peace Çiçek and Hulusi Pur, who ruled for the release of the graft probe suspects, including Zarrab and the sons of the two former ministers, imposed travel bans on them and made them check in with a police station every week, thus restricting their freedom.

While Pur ruled for the release of former Halkbank General Manager Aslan in mid-February, he refused to release Zarrab and the sons of the two former ministers in light of the content of the charges they faced, the fact that the evidence against them had not been fully collected and the prospect that they might flee the country. Pur's decision led these suspects to remain in prison until the end of February.

Therefore, the graft probe suspects could also file compensation cases against these judges.

In related news, it has emerged that Judge Bekir Altun, who ruled for the arrest of three police officers who took part in a probe into a highly secretive Iran-backed terrorist network that has ties to senior government officials, Tawhid-Salam, signed 154 decisions for police action during the course of the Tawhid-Salam investigation.

Lawyer Ömer Turanlı, who represents three of the accused police officers, last week reminded Altun that he had also played an active role in the Tawhid-Salam investigation by signing 154 decisions, and the police officers only complied with his rulings. Despite this, Altun ruled for the arrest of the police officers who had implemented his decisions.

The anti-police operations are believed to be a politically motivated move to take revenge for the Dec. 17 graft probe.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)