Romania to deport two police officers suspected of spying on Turkish President Erdoğan

International (IraqiNews.com) Authorities in Romania are expected to extradite to Turkey two Turkish police officers, still under detention in this country on suspicion of eavesdropping on their President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, according to the Justice Ministry.

The ex-police chief Sedat Zavar and police officer İlker Usta are still wanted in the probe connected with the installation of listening devices in Erdoğan’s office while he was serving as prime minister.

Zavar and Usta, still on the run, are thought to be closely linked with the U.S.-led Muslim cleric Gulen’s illicit network, accused of throwing government.

They had been detained in early February in Nadlac, a town on Romania’s border with Hungary. After their detention, a Romanian court has refused their bid to have a right to stay in that country, due to the trouble they had faced in their homeland.

Ankara 7th High Criminal Court had issued warrants for Zavar and Usta after judging that they intended to be fugitives in order tocause the investigation facing them to fail to reach a result. They would receive sentences of up to 21 to 36 years in prison, if they are found guilty by the High Criminal Court.

If the Romanian court approves the extradition of the suspects to Turkey for their alleged involvement in eavesdropping, they will face several charges, including wiretapping for political espionage and violating privacy.

The case is expected to be heard on Friday, while the authorities in Ankara still await a response from the Romanian government regarding their request for the extradition.

According to the 73-page indictment appealed to the High Court in November, one of the suspects,believed to be an operative for the U.S.-based cleric Gulen who is charged with running a terror group in Turkey,headed for Copenhagen in July 2011 to purchase some bugs from the Danish-based company, Cobham-Spectronic.

The suspects –Enes Çiğci, Serhat Demir and Seyit Saydam— connected with the same probe are said to have been fugitives for months.