Turkish court remands 10 cops in custody for wiretapping

A court in Turkey has put 10 police officers under formal arrest as part of an ongoing investigation into the alleged forging of official documents and eavesdropping on top officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

On Friday, a court in the country’s capital city of Ankara remanded the policemen on charges of “establishing a criminal gang” and “forgery of official documents.”

The ten officers were among the 17 who were detained in an operation carried out in Ankara earlier this week. The other seven were later released but banned from leaving the country.

Ankara Public Prosecutor Alparslan Karabay on Monday ordered the detention of 34 security personnel, among them police chiefs, in 16 provinces on accusations of conducting illegal wiretapping between 2007 and 2011.

Dozens of serving and former Turkish police officers have already been detained over the past few months as part of the investigation into alleged eavesdropping on Erdogan and other key individuals, including businessmen, politicians and government officials.