Profiling case against anti-terror police chiefs for illegally keeping private information

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Former chiefs of police and police officers including Yurt Atayün, the former head of the İstanbul Anti-Terror Branch will stand trial for "unlawfully keeping and not deleting personal data which needs to be destroyed according to the law."

The notification for the case has been made to the parties today (February 24) and the first trial will be held on September 21, 2023 in İstanbul.

The 12 former police officers to stand trial are being charged with keeping information on the private lives of the people they are investigating, which are irrelevant to the investigation, taking notes by their names and keeping them illegally, or for holding office in the branch in this period when these crimes were committed.

There are journalists and lawyers among those whose private information has been kept and taken note of as such.

The indictment says that these notes, irrelevant to the investigations being carried out, are on the private lives of the people who are being monitored or listened to.

Many of the notes mention "... has a relation with a woman/man named ..."

Some notes include further details including disagreements and problems in private life.

"Drinks alcohol, quarrels with his wife all the time, and plays the horses."

"... is married to a woman named ... but they are separating because they have problems. It is believed that they have a disagreement about the child."

"He is saying that his girlfriend has left him."

"He cheats on his wife with many women."

"Has a fight with his wife frequently."

Details of telephone conversations are reflected in the notes kept illegally such as "they talk about sex."

Notes on sexual orientation and religious belief

The indictment reveals that two people were noted as "homosexual" after phone tapping.

In another note the person was noted as "Alevi" and in another that the mother of the person in phone tapping "performs prayer (salaat)."

The indictment also states that "updates" were made in the notes. The serial numbers of more than one police officer has been found involved in the keeping of the notes in some investigations, showing that they have been kept or updated by different police officers at different times," the indictment concludes.

Ex-police officer was sentenced to 6 years in November

Former police officers and chiefs are being charged with keeping the records of 4,395 communications of 3,248 people illegally in 355 different investigations and keeping 2 thousand separate notes about the private lives of these people.

An ex-police officer was recently sentenced to 6 years in prison for collecting personal data illegally related to them on November 17, 2022.

Taken part in "Ergenekon" and "Balyoz" investigations

Yurt Atayün, the former head of the İstanbul Anti-Terror Branch had taken part in the investigations in cases like "Ergenekon" and "Balyoz" (Sledgehammer).

Atayün is still in Edirne F Type prison serving his time being convicted of another crime.

He had previously claimed that he was given back to duty in an announcement made on his website.

Four of the suspects in the new case are in prison in Silivri, one in Tekirdağ and one in Kocaeli.

The Ergenekon trials were a series of high-profile trials which took place on 2008–2016 in Turkey in which 275 people, including military officers, journalists and opposition lawmakers, all alleged members of a suspected illegal organization called Ergenekon, were accused of plotting against the Turkish government. 

Balyoz (Sledgehammer) was the name of an alleged Turkish military coup plan dating back to 2003. (AÖ/PE)