Arrested lawyers leaked personal info of 2,400 Turkish citizens to EU embassies

Fevzi Kızılkoyun – ANKARA

Two lawyers who were arrested on charges of leaking personal information of Turkish citizens seeking asylum in Europe, leaked the files of some 2,400 people to European Union embassies in Ankara, daily Hürriyet reported on Nov. 28.

One of the lawyers, identified as Yılmaz S. and registered to the bar association of Istanbul, has been released by the court pending trial.

Following the incident, Yılmaz S.’s wife and daughter’s property was confiscated. The court overruled the decision after his family applied to nullify the judgement.

The other lawyer, identified only as B.D. and registered to Diyarbakır’s bar association, remains under arrest even though authorities have concluded the inspection of his computer and digital data.

The lawyers collected some 3 million Turkish Liras from the embassies and prepared a report for EU countries about 2,400 people.

The report includes former lawmakers and mayors from People’s Democratic Party (HDP) and military officials as well as members of the judiciary, alleged to be FETÖ members, who fled the country after the failed coup attempt of July 25, 2016.

The report was prepared to provide data for foreign embassies regarding the political asylum cases of the said persons. The leaked information covers the criminal records of the persons whether they received any punishment or the judicial processes to take place if they will be extradited to Turkey.

Courts hearing cases on political asylum and requests for asylum have used the reports, and the leaked information was inscribed to the court records as “secret witness testimonies.”

On Sept. 18, daily Hürriyet reported that two lawyers working for EU member state embassies were arrested on allegations that they leaked information about Turkish citizens to these foreign missions.

These lawyers were accused of providing documents to Turkish national FETÖ and PKK members who “illegally” applied to get political asylum in these countries.