Turkey: Four Iranians were arrested on charges of "military espionage"

Turkey: Four Iranians were arrested on charges of "military espionage"
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Update: 16 September 2022 22:49
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The suspects were detained for smuggling at first but the investigation turned into a military espionage case after their interrogation by the police

Four Iranians were arrested in Istanbul on charges of ‘military espionage’ along with dozens of original and fake passports and an audio surveillance device, Istanbul police said

The operation began as Istanbul police learned that a husband and wife of Iranian nationals and two other Iranians were smuggling immigrants in Turkey with forged documents.

The teams closely followed the Iranians in question with the order of the prosecutor's office. “After the technical and physical follow-up, the suspects’ residence in Esenyurt district was raided,” Istanbul police said. 

Police found dozens of stolen or lost European and Turkish passports, most of them original, an image and sound recording apparatus, a hidden camera, and a scanning device used to detect spying devices.

When the suspects gave contradictory statements during interrogation, and cross-examination, the course of the investigation evolved from 'immigrant smuggling and forgery of documents' to 'military espionage'.

The suspects were later jailed pending trial.