Prof. Oran Filed Lawsuit against Wiretapping of General Staff

The General Staff Military Prosecution launched a judiciary investigation over allegations related to illegal wiretapping ordered by General Aslan Güner, Deputy Chief of General Staff.

An administrative investigation had already been initiated by the General Staff on 30 August right after the news about the issue made the headlines of the nation-wide Taraf newspaper.

Güner allegedly purchased wiretapping equipment to eavesdrop on "members of the PKK", the militant Kurdistan Workers Party. Prof. Baskın Oran from the Ankara University Faculty of Political Science was among the approximately 2000 people who were wiretapped. Oran filed a criminal complaint on Wednesday (1 September).

Oran's lawyer Oya Aydın submitted her client's petition to the Ankara Public Prosecution. Aydın told bianet that that they filed a complaint against Güner and the other perpetrators who signed the wiretapping decision and who are to be ascertained by the prosecutor.

Three offences

Lawyer Aydın requested the punishment of all people responsible according to Article 257 of the Turkish Criminal Code (TCK) on "misconduct in office", Article 134 on "violation of privacy" and Article 132 on "violation of the confidentiality of communication", respectively.

The petition also demanded an increase of punishment as stipulated by law in case the offence was committed by a public official. Accordingly, Güner and the other persons responsible who are still to be ascertained are facing prison sentences of up to 10.5 years each.

Petition based on allegations put forward by Taraf newspaper

The petition includes the allegations put forward by Taraf newspaper. The daily had reported that Güner purchased wiretapping equipment for the General Staff Electronics System (GES) Command from Israel in 2007 when he was on duty in the General Staff Intelligence Presidency as a lieutenant general. According to Taraf, the equipment was ordered to "wiretap PKK members" but was used to eavesdrop on well-known people.

"Contrary to the guarantees of the Law and the Constitution, a top-ranking official of the military who had the basic duty of defending his country seized his authority and illegally wiretapped persons he supposed to be political enemies. These allegations constitute a very serious crime and should be investigated instantly", Aydın emphasized.

Administrative investigation

The General Staff Presidency announced that a judicial investigation was launched over allegations that even though the equipment was purchased in accordance with the legislation, the equipment was used beyond the reasons for the purchase.  The Presidency also said that Deputy Chief of General Staff Güner was not at the General Staff Headquarters at the date related to the allegations.

The statement included first findings of the administrative investigation launched on Monday (30 August). It read, "The allegations concerned with the purchase of the equipment have been investigated. It was confirmed that all procedures were made according to current legislation and referring modalities. All documents have been fully obtained".

In the same announcement, the General Staff declared that the minibus shown by Taraf when they initially reported the news was not the one the wiretapping system had been installed in. (EÖ/BB/VK)