- An investigation has been launched against T24 columnist Tolga Şardan on the charge of “violating the confidentiality of the investigation” due to his column about the Libya plane.
- In his article, Şardan had reported that a flight attendant who is a citizen of South Cyprus was detained and interrogated at the Ankara Police Department.
Cengiz Anıl Bölükbaş
The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation against T24 columnist Tolga Şardan on the charge of “violating the confidentiality of the investigation” due to his column in which he wrote that a flight attendant was interrogated at the Ankara Police Department as part of the investigation into the crash in Ankara of a plane carrying a Libyan military delegation.
The private jet carrying the Chief of General Staff of Libya, General Mohammed Ali Al-Haddad, and his accompanying delegation — who were visiting Turkey upon the invitation of Turkish Chief of General Staff General Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu — crashed on December 23 in the Kesikkavak region of Haymana. While the investigation launched into the incident is ongoing, it was learned that the plane’s black box was sent to London for analysis and footage related to the moment of the crash was sent to TÜBİTAK for examination.
Şardan: In the initial phase, no “tangible” information was obtained
Journalist Tolga Şardan, in his January 13 column titled “Development in the investigation into the plane crash in which the Libyan delegation died: Flight attendant detained and interrogated,” wrote that a flight attendant who is a citizen of South Cyprus was detained in her hotel room upon the instruction of the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, initiated by the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), and was interrogated at the Ankara Police Department.
Şardan reported that the plane, which belongs to an aviation company based in Malta, was brought to Turkey and was planned to be flown to Libya. He also reminded that a change was made in the flight crew. In his article, he stated that no “tangible” information was obtained in the first stage of the interrogation of the said flight attendant, but that connections were still being investigated.
The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation against Şardan, citing this article, on the charge of “violating the confidentiality of the investigation.”
It was learned that Şardan gave a statement yesterday as part of the investigation.
What did Şardan say in his article?
In his January 13 column, Tolga Şardan wrote that a new development had occurred in the investigation into the plane crash in which Libyan Chief of General Staff Mohammed Ali Al-Haddad and his accompanying delegation lost their lives.
According to Şardan, a flight attendant who is a citizen of South Cyprus and was part of the flight crew that brought the jet belonging to a Malta-based aviation company to Turkey was detained at the hotel where she was staying, through the initiative of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and upon the instruction of the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. The flight attendant was interrogated at the Anti-Terrorism Branch of the Ankara Police Department.
In the article, it was stated that due to the flight attendant’s foreign nationality and the sensitivity of the incident, the detention process was carried out confidentially. Şardan stated that in the initial phase of the interrogation, no “tangible” information was obtained, but connections were still being investigated. He also reported that the black box related to the crash would be examined in the United Kingdom and that a special team was conducting the investigation.
