Records in Lighthouse case get destroyed

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Former president of the Supreme Board of Radio and Television Zahid Akman was a suspect in the case. AA Photo

The Ankara Public Prosecutor’s Office has begun destroying some records in the Deniz Feneri (Lighthouse) case in order to protect the right to privacy of those not implicated in the case.

On July 19, Sincan’s 1st Court of Serious Crimes rejected an objection to the verdict of the Ankara Chief Prosecutor’s Office not to conduct a prosecution in the Lighthouse charity embezzlement case. The decision confirmed that organized crime and fraud were not found to have occurred in the case.

Following the decision, the Ankara Public Prosecutor’s Office, which had filed a suit against 20 suspects in the Lighthouse probe, including the former president of the Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTÜK), Zahid Akman, began destroying wiretapping records belonging to third parties after the investigation phase was completed. The prosecutor’s office decided to remove the names of those who are not parties to the legal proceedings from the files to protect their privacy.

After the prosecutor’s office completes its work, it will notify those who were wiretapped under the court decision. “You were wire-tapped as part of the Lighthouse probe, and because no offense was detected, the evidence has been destroyed,” the notice will read.

After the decision was finalized, the prosecutor’s office also began to remove property restrictions placed on companies who were found to have had no involvement with the organization or with fraud.

The balance sheet in the case, which began in 2007, includes 110 files. About 80,000 pages of official documents have been collected in the case’s five years, and there are between 650 and 800 pages of files in each file.

Previously, Ankara’s 3rd Court for Serious Crimes had approved the indictment in the “Lighthouse e.V.” probe in Germany, but sent it to the Istanbul Court for Serious Crimes due to a decision that rejected Ankara as a venue for the trial.

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