The police took away the cellphones of arrested and detained activists during the police action against the protesters,as of May 5. All they were told was that those phones would be given for further examination. Yet even after 22 days, no explanation has been given for these actions of the police.

Such behavior is contrary to the Criminal Procedure Law. The unlawful conduct of the authorities can especially be seen in the provision of the CPL on determining expert examination. Paragraph 1 of this provision of the CPL stipulates that: “An expertise shall be order end when it is necessary to provide a finding and an opinion from a person who has the necessary expertise in order to determine or assess an important fact. As a rule, the expertise is performed by experts that are enrolled in the Registry of Experts.

Furthermore, paragraph 2 of the same provision clearly states: “Expertise shall be ordered with a written order.” None of the detainees had received a written order for the seizure of their cellphones.

Paragraph 3 of the given provision on expertise is of special significance, which provides that: “The order during the preliminary procedure shall be issued by the public prosecutor, and during the main hearing it will be issued by the court in accordance with Article 394, paragraph 2 of this Law.”Paragraph 4 stipulates the following responsibility:”The order shall specify the facts that the expert’s report should concentrate on and who is to perform the examination.”

We protest against the obstinacy and illegal actions of the police and demand from the public prosecution to declare if a prosecutor did issue an order for expertise.If such an order exists, we demand from the authorities to declare under what circumstances such an order was issued, which does represent a legal obligation.