By Zeynep Yesildal
ISTANBUL (AA) – A local court in Istanbul on Wednesday sentenced 37 people for espionage for the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.
The Istanbul High Criminal Court sentenced Ahmet Koray Ozgurun and Alperen Erkut to eight years and four months in prison each after they were found guilty of "obtaining prohibited information for the purpose of espionage."
In addition, 35 other defendants each received six years and eight months in prison for a similar crime.
When the court announced the verdict, the majority of the convicted were either present or represented by their lawyers. Before the ruling, defense lawyers argued that there was no concrete evidence against their clients and pleaded for acquittal.
The court, however, acquitted 19 people of the charge of "obtaining prohibited information for the purpose of espionage" because there was insufficient evidence to prove their crime.
Earlier, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office stated in the charge sheet that the Israeli intelligence agency used mobile apps to conduct espionage operations.
According to the document, the Israeli intelligence service formed an online team to remotely obtain funds, transfer money via live couriers, and carry out tactical missions aimed at specific operations.
The charge sheet states that the initial contact was made via apps such as Telegram, WhatsApp, social media accounts, LinkedIn, and email.
Communication was strictly limited to these apps, with no video or voice calls allowed. It also stated that payments for these tasks were made using international money transfer services, cryptocurrencies, wire transfer offices, and live couriers.
Detectives were used for more complex tasks, while the convicts who were unlikely to attract suspicion were assigned tactical roles.
They were tasked with managing WhatsApp groups, designing websites and online newspapers, conducting research, transferring money, documenting photos and videos, and even carrying out physical assaults, thefts, and surveillance operations.
Detectives, on the other hand, were tasked with gathering biographical information, conducting investigations, monitoring targets, and accessing sensitive information from state databases.