'I Became an Informant When I was 10'

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Prisoner İ.Ö., who calls himself a long-time informant, was involved in numerous criminal cases as a plaintiff or a witness.

Today, he files criminal complaints against those who "insult the state, the president and the government party" in TV programs he watches at the prison.

Former MP Kemal Anadol, journalist Hayko Bağdat, film producer Melek Ulagay, and Berkin Elvan's father Sami Elvan were among the people he filed a complaint against.

Witness in the trial of lawyers

Lawyer Efkan Bolaç was recently sentenced to three years in prison for "propagandizing for a terrorist organization." The case against him was filed after a criminal complaint by İ.Ö. regarding his expressions in a TV program in 2015.

İ.Ö. was also a witness in the trial of the Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD), where 18 lawyers were sentenced to a total of 159 years in prison.

He says he became an informant at the age of 10 and calls himself "an intelligence officer who served for 12 years."

Submitting a petition to the İstanbul Security Directorate Anti-Terror Branch, he had requested a broadcast/publishing ban on his full name.

Having received an 18-year prison term, İ.Ö. will be released in 2022. Although he was sentenced for non-political crimes, he was a witness for many cases against political organizations.

Appeal against the decision of non-prosecution

İ.Ö. had filed a criminal complaint against MP Anadol for "attempting to defame and humiliate prosecutors, judges and the state." Then he had appealed the prosecutor's decision to not prosecute the case: "I think the decision of non-prosecution by Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor's Office is not right."

He had also said in a petition that he is "ashamed" of the Peoples' Democratic Party's (HDP) legal presence in the parliament.

In 2016, he sent a petition to the prison administration, requesting the removal of Halk TV from the list of the TV channels that inmates can watch.

"This is a state agency. And the survival of our state is above everything. The channel named Halk TV runs a smear campaign by continuously insulting out state, president and the government party. Our country is a democratic and fair country. Everyone has to respect the president," he explained in his petition.

He then carried out a seven-day hunger strike for the Halk TV to be removed from the list. He was issued a one-month communications ban.

Petitions to the Presidency

He also submitted petitions to the Presidency and the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), a state agency supervising broadcasts. In his petition to the President, he complained about the prison administration that did not remove Halk TV from the list. He requested the RTÜK to ban the programs where the President was insulted.

He also said that he was "very happy" for receiving a "message of good wishes" by the Presidency. (AS/VK)