Öznur Değer 

 

ANKARA - Stating that the “recording ban” circular issued by the General Directorate of Security aims to tamper with evidence and cover up the crime, lawyer Evin Konuk said: "This is an act of intimidation. The authority of the police is expanded day by day. We are moving very quickly from the rule of law to the police state."

 

The "recording ban" circular signed by the General Director of Police (EGM) Mehmet Aktaş was published on April 29. While the circular emphasized "privacy of private life and violation of personal data", people who wanted to record the violence against the demonstrators who recorded the footage or voices of the police during demonstrations were asked to be blocked and to take legal action against them. The first reaction to the circular came from journalists and lawyers.

 

Following the reactions, Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu made a statement and said that this circular does not include journalists and that journalists have the right to shoot, but many journalists were intervened in many cities, especially in Istanbul and Ankara, on May Day and they were prevented from receiving images. As a result of the police attack, the equipment of the journalists was broken and the journalists were detained for taking images.

 

Evin Konuk, a member of the Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD), assessed to our agency regarding the issue and underlined that this decision had the aim to “tamper with evidence”.

 

‘It has the purpose of covering up their crimes’

 

Noting that this circular issued by the General Directorate of Security aims to cover up their crimes, Evin stated that the police have committed a lot of crimes while interfering with people who participated in the protests. Evin pointing out that the police malfeasance its duty and people were tortured. Stating that with the proliferation of audio and video recording devices, torture has recorded by everyone and Evin continued: “Everyone started recording and spreading these illegal transactions over the phone. Therefore, the crimes committed by the public and law enforcement officials became more visible through social media. The crimes of public officials have become more visible and the Police Department is uncomfortable with this. What we expect from EGM to do against this is to say to the police and public officials "Do not commit a crime, do not torture, do not abuse your duty, do not act unlawfully", but EGM issuing a circular and saying "Public officials may commit crimes. Do not record them."

 

‘When an individual commits the crime, everyone can collect evidence about the person’

 

Evin mentioned that the stated reason was not a justification suitable for the purpose and added that they presented a justification such as "violating the privacy of private life and recording personal data" in the circular. Underlining that there is no private life there, contrary to the circular, Evin emphasized that a public official committed a crime while on duty. Stating that this situation does not enter the private life of a public official, Evin said: “While performing a public duty in the public sphere, he is committing a crime and while he is committing this crime, someone records his image. This does not fall into the concept of private life. This is not his/her data either. When an individual commits a crime, everyone can collect evidence about person. Therefore, there is evidence gathering here. The justifications stated in the circular are not legal justifications."

 

‘This is an act of intimidation’

 

Emphasizing that press workers are also waiting for an intervention against the circular, Evin stated that this will not have a legal consequence. Stating that journalists could be intervened, investigated or detained at that time, Evin continued her words as follows: “But I do not think they will get a penalty as a result of this investigation. But of course, this is an act of intimidation. The authority of the police is expanded day by day. We are moving very quickly from the rule of law to the police state. "We can commit all kinds of crimes. We can abuse our duty, even in the public sphere. But you cannot record us" they say.