ANKARA
An Ankara court has approved an indictment prepared by a public prosecutor as part of an investigation into the alleged wiretapping of Recep Tayyip Erdogan's office when he was Turkey's prime minister.
The Public Prosecutor from the Bureau of Investigation into Crimes against Constitutional Order, Durak Cetin, completed the bill of indictment and sent it to Ankara High Criminal Court no:11 on Nov. 18.
Erdogan revealed in late 2012 that a bug had been found in his office and charges of political spying were brought against 13 suspects.
Former vice president of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, Hasan Palaz, was among those charged as well as police officers Ali Ozdogan, Serhat Demir, Sedat Zavar, Ahmet Turer, Enes Cigci, Ilker Usta, Hursit Golbasi, Seyit Saydam, Ibrahim Sari, Mehmet Yuksel, Zeki Bulut and Harun Yavuz.
The suspects Ozdogan, Zavar, Turer, Cigci and Usta were charged with political spying, violating private life and recording speeches.
Cetin demanded they be sentenced to prison for a period between 21 years and 36 years.
In addition, Ankara 7th High Criminal Court also issued an arrest warrant for the five suspects and the first session of the case will be held on Jan. 25, court sources said.
To date, hundreds of police officers have been detained and have testified in the probe.
Suspects are accused of eavesdropping on Turkey's top officials and of disclosing information of a highly sensitive nature as well as of "forming an organization to commit crime and being a member of this organization," "violating privacy," "illegally seizing personal information" and "forgery of official documents."
The Turkish government, blaming the Gulen movement led by U.S.-based preacher Fethullah Gulen for the wiretapping, also accuses the network of attempting to infiltrate the Turkish state and plotting to overthrow the government.
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