Minister: Wiretappings will be severely punished
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Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mart 09, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Şahin has announced illegal wiretappings will be more severely punished through a planned amendment in the penal code.
"If it is said the current punishments given for illegal wiretappings aren’t a deterrent, then it is our duty to stop it. I asked for the ministry’s officials to prepare a report that will aggravate punishment for these types of acts," said Şahin, speaking to daily Hürriyet yesterday.
Following the leaking of a mobile phone conversation between Soner Gedik, deputy chairman of the Doğan Media Group, or DMG, and Mehmet Akif Ulusoy, commissioner of the Finance Ministry’s Revenue Administration, to certain Web sites last month, allegations have surfaced that besides the illegal eavesdropping the legal wiretappings have also been made public, violating confidentiality, and that the government has remained silent about this situation.
Şahin said the phone conservation of a person could only be legally wiretapped via a judicial order.
"Other wiretappings are illegal and require certain penalties implemented by the public prosecutors. The public prosecutors don’t have to receive permission to initiate this step. As the minister, I have no such authorization," he said.
"Because of the emerging complaints, I asked for the ministry’s investigating judges to prepare a report on what could be done to make the penalties harsher to overcome the problem. We can initiate new legal arrangements in line with the outcomes of the report."
Noting that the issue could be on the agenda after local elections March 29, Şahin said if the wiretapping implied a kind of evidence regarding an investigation then it was a crime to make the talks public in line with the investigation’s confidentiality. There have been many such cases filed with regard to the ongoing Ergenekon investigation in Istanbul. Some cases have resulted in penalties and others are still ongoing.
Following the leaking of a mobile phone conversation between Soner Gedik, deputy chairman of the Doğan Media Group, or DMG, and Mehmet Akif Ulusoy, commissioner of the Finance Ministry’s Revenue Administration, to certain Web sites last month, allegations have surfaced that besides the illegal eavesdropping the legal wiretappings have also been made public, violating confidentiality, and that the government has remained silent about this situation.
Şahin said the phone conservation of a person could only be legally wiretapped via a judicial order.
"Other wiretappings are illegal and require certain penalties implemented by the public prosecutors. The public prosecutors don’t have to receive permission to initiate this step. As the minister, I have no such authorization," he said.
"Because of the emerging complaints, I asked for the ministry’s investigating judges to prepare a report on what could be done to make the penalties harsher to overcome the problem. We can initiate new legal arrangements in line with the outcomes of the report."
Noting that the issue could be on the agenda after local elections March 29, Şahin said if the wiretapping implied a kind of evidence regarding an investigation then it was a crime to make the talks public in line with the investigation’s confidentiality. There have been many such cases filed with regard to the ongoing Ergenekon investigation in Istanbul. Some cases have resulted in penalties and others are still ongoing.