Over 130 employees at Turkish courthouses, Istanbul jails detained

ISTANBUL

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Police have detained 68 judiciary employees throughout Turkey in addition to 66 employees working at a number of jails in Istanbul as part of its probe into the Gülenist organization, which was accused of plotting the July 15 coup attempt in Turkey. 

In operations carried out in 24 provinces, including Istanbul, police detained 68 people working at courthouses in addition to detaining 66 employees working in three jails in Istanbul on charges of “acting in line of the [Gülenist] organization’s aims and actions,” “using the ByLock app,” “making financial transactions to now-closed Bank Asya accounts,” “taking an active role in the organization’s finances” and “engaging in misconduct at the entrance [exams] to civil servant positions.” 

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office had issued warrants for 87 judiciary employees registered at Istanbul’s Çağlayan, Gaziosmanpaşa and Büyükçekmece courthouses along with 75 employees working at the city’s Silivri, Metris and Bakırköy prisons and the Anatolia and Bakırköy Chief Probation Bureaus. 

The detention warrants were the latest in a series of round-ups conducted at Istanbul jurisdiction institutions, during which 293 were detained and 50 arrested.