An Istanbul court ordered the release of two out of 16 defendants in a notorious case in which suspects linked to Iranian intelligence are accused of plotting to kidnap Iranian dissidents in Türkiye.
Thirteen defendants in custody attended Friday’s trial where Iranian defendant M.S.S. gave a statement. M.S.S. denied working for Iranian intelligence and said he only acted as an interpreter for other defendants. He acknowledged he traveled to Burkina Faso on a business trip with İ.S., a Turkish defendant accused of aiding Iranians. He also denied charges of transferring money spent by Iranian intelligence staff for operations in Türkiye. He claimed he fled Iran due to "oppression" and started working at the company of İ.S.
He also spoke about ties between Turkish prosecutor D.Y. and Iranian defendants. He said Iranians invited the latter to the country but he refused. Questioned by the judge, M.S.S. said he heard Iranian intelligence paid $50,000 to some defendants for the kidnapping of a dissident.
The court ruled for the release of two Turkish defendants, with judiciary control, which involves regularly reporting to the nearest police station and sometimes, a travel ban. It rejected pleas for release by other defendants and adjourned the trial to a yet unscheduled date.
The indictment against the defendants says Iranian intelligence, acting on the "plausible deniability" principle, recruited locals and criminal groups in other countries to have them do their bidding. It says the defendants, İ.S. and others organized a criminal group with the purpose of abducting dissidents who fled Iran and took shelter in Türkiye, to hand them over to Iran. It names several suspects who are at large as Iranian intelligence officers who detected the location of dissidents. The "criminal group" named in the indictment is accused of intimidating the potential victims and attempting to force them back into Iran. D.Y., İ.S. and another Turkish defendant are accused of leading the criminal group.
Prosecutors ask for prison terms between 15 and 20 years for all defendants on charges of political or military espionage while additional prison terms are asked for D.Y., İ.S. and H.Ç., another Turkish defendant, on charges of running a criminal organization.