A former Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) police officer has confessed before a court that the cult leader Fetullah Gülen's instructions were delivered through the ByLock messaging app. Veli Y., a former FETÖ police officer, contended that Gülen's messages were sent via ByLock after the Dec. 17-25 legal coup attempt.

"These [messages] were deleted right after they were read. We were told that we were being followed by MİT [National Intelligence Organization]," he said, adding that Gülen urged his followers to stand united and strong. The police officer also said he was strictly told in the prison by other cult followers not to confess anything before the court. Another FETÖ member, Judge Çağla Sönmez, gave up the names of other cult judges and prosecutors. Sönmez, who used to work as a judge in the northern Bolu province, said the list of judges and prosecutors who would join the elections for the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) was sent to her via ByLock.Sönmez added that she had to give up all her earnings to FETÖ after she was appointed as a judge in Bolu by the group.

Meanwhile, MİT sent a detailed report to the Supreme Court after the latter put forward critical questions regarding the issue. Even though FETÖ members claimed that the messaging app was available in application stores to everybody, the MİT said in the report, "Even though it is downloaded indiscriminately, both sides have to know each other's code and password."The app's developers also promise protection from "man-in-the-middle" attacks that consist of hacking into private two-way chats, enabling a third-party to alter messages.

Similarly, ByLock was offering an eight-digit password for users and highly secure encryption.