Yesterday's operation was carried out by Judge Hayri Keskin and three court experts. The directorate's wiretap records were also examined last month, sparking a heated debate after the same court, at the order of Kaçmaz, decided to examine records of lawful wiretaps conducted by TİB. The judge examined each record to ascertain whether TİB had monitored the phone conversations of former Judges and Prosecutors Association (YARSAV) President Ömer Faruk Eminağaoğlu. The decision came shortly after Eminağaoğlu petitioned the Ankara Public Prosecutor's Office, demanding to find out whether his and YARSAV's phone lines were being monitored.
The Sincan 1st High Criminal Court was, however, not satisfied with the findings of the first raid at TİB and ordered that the directorate be visited for a second time for a more detailed examination of wiretap records. An inquiry was launched against Keskin, a judge at the Ankara 1st Peace Court, on Nov. 19 after the first TİB operation. Wiretap records were taken by the court, sparking concern that the seizure could have a negative impact on a number of ongoing probes. TİB officials also noted that an examination of the records by the Ankara court would put into doubt the confidentiality of those probes.
The operation drew the ire of several high criminal courts, which spoke out in late November against a second raid at TİB. The courts sent separate notices to the directorate, warning that wiretap records are confidential documents and cannot be shared by any means with a third party. The courts warned that they will seek legal redress against the responsible figures if that principle is violated.
The wiretap controversy has been occupying Turkey’s agenda for several weeks. A heated debate was sparked last month over reports that the telephones of a chief public prosecutor and several members of the Supreme Court of Appeals had been wiretapped for several years as part of an ongoing probe into a clandestine organization. However, the Justice Ministry and TİB strongly denied the allegations, saying neither the telephones of the Supreme Court of Appeals nor those of İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Aykut Cengiz Engin were wiretapped. The illegal wiretapping of phone lines is also a controversial issue. Sound recordings of phone conversations of a number of prominent figures from various circles -- including the prime minister, Cabinet members, journalists and mayors -- have been seized at offices of individuals suspected of links with Ergenekon, a clandestine criminal organization accused of plotting to topple the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government. The editor-in-chief of a nationalist magazine, Aydınlık, and the security chief of the Ulusal TV station were detained last month as part of the Ergenekon case on the grounds that they wiretapped the prime minister’s telephone. The two were later arrested. Ahmet Gündel, a retired prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals, termed the judicial examination of TİB wiretap records “illegal.”
“This examination violated the confidentiality of ongoing cases. Details of some cases are being shared with the public, which overshadows the confidentiality of the judicial process. This is a legal problem. The Justice Ministry must evaluate this examination and make its decision,” Gündel remarked.
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