Recent news stories have reported that the telephones of a chief public prosecutor and several members of the Supreme Court of Appeals have been wiretapped for an extended period of time as part of an ongoing probe into a clandestine organization. The wiretap controversy emerged last week with claims that the telephones of İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Aykut Cengiz Engin have been wiretapped since 2008 as part of a probe into the criminal organization known as Ergenekon. Then came allegations that the telephones of some members of the Supreme Court of Appeals have also been wiretapped since 2008.
The lawyers marched up İstiklal Street to Taksim Square chanting slogans such as “We want a real state of law,” “We stand up for the judiciary,” “Judges, prosecutors and lawyers, hand in hand for justice.” As the chairman of the bar association, Muammer Aydın, was about to make a speech, a banner was hung by the Young Civilians, a group of activists known for their use of sarcasm in demonstrations, from the top floor of a nearby hotel which read, “Pro-coup bar, welcome to Taksim,” briefly causing tension in the area. Speaking to the press on Tuesday, Justice Minister Ergin complained that some legal wiretapping cases have been manipulated and an impression has been created that all members of the judiciary are being wiretapped. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also said yesterday that the surveillance of some members of the judiciary was not politically motivated.
Bilal Çalışır, head of the Boğaziçi Lawyers Association, said there was no need for such a protest when there was not an illegal wiretapping case in question. “Dozens of people are wiretapped in Turkey under court rulings, and nobody questions this. If the wiretapping of members of the judiciary is illegal, let everyone oppose it, but if it is legal, nobody can say anything to it,” Çalışır said.
The head of the Association of Jurists, Kamil Uğur Yaralı, complained about the politicization of the judiciary after yesterday’s protest. “The İstanbul Bar Association and the Republican People’s Party (CHP) proceed hand in hand and they criticize the politicization of the judiciary,” said Yaralı.
Ayhan Gültekin, the head of the Justice and Law Association, also criticized the İstanbul Bar Association for politicizing the judiciary, noting that it was impossible for him to approve of this. “Their protest is an illegal one that aims to give support to the political opposition. Hence, we condemn this protest.”
