Higher Regional Court of Dusseldorf
Trial for espionage: the accused admits to working for Turkey
The Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf. photo
© Marius Becker / dpa / archive image
In the trial for spying on the Turkish secret services, the defendant admitted that he was an agent. At the start of the trial Thursday in Düsseldorf, the Cologne taxi driver admitted through his lawyer that he had obtained information about two supporters of the Gülen movement living in Cologne in September 2021 and that he had passed it on to a Turk who had already been sentenced as an agent.
In the trial for spying on the Turkish secret services, the defendant admitted that he was an agent. At the start of the trial Thursday in Düsseldorf, the Cologne taxi driver admitted through his lawyer that he had obtained information about two supporters of the Gülen movement living in Cologne in September 2021 and that he had passed it on to a Turk who had already been sentenced as an agent.
“I just wanted to help my country, I didn’t want problems,” the statement read. “I wasn’t aware of the impact it was going to have.” The Turkish government blames the so-called Gülen movement for the attempted coup in Turkey in 2016 and is taking action against the organization’s supporters in their country.
The state protection senate had promised the 47-year-old accused a suspended sentence in exchange for a confession, “which is significantly less than that of Ali D., who has already been convicted,” said President Lars Bachler. 41-year-old Ali D. was sentenced to 21 months in prison on probation.
In addition, defendant Ali D. is said to have sold 200 live bullets and delivered them to his apartment in Cologne. The accused also admitted this on Thursday. The cartridges and a list of names and profiles of supporters of the Gülen movement were found in a hotel room in Düsseldorf in September 2021 and triggered a large-scale police operation.
