Is it 'Done and Dusted'? It's done!

All defendants in the fake diploma scandal have been released. You may recall that when it was revealed that even a descendant of the Ottomans had obtained a fake diploma, the country was shaken to its core. There were a total of 134 defendants, five of whom were in custody, in the ongoing case at the Ankara 23rd Criminal Court of First Instance regarding this fake diploma incident. These individuals had prepared fake diplomas for many people using forged documents and fake e-signatures.

It turned out they had prepared fake diplomas for three or five well-known public figures, but no one knows how many thousands of other fake diplomas exist that haven't come to light. But there is one thing we do know: the court has been adjourned until January 16, and there is not a single defendant left in custody in the case. In other words, the perpetrators got away with it!

Yet, we continue to keep lecturers and mayors in prison whom we allege have fake diplomas. Moreover, as in this case, it is not even about actual fake diplomas, but merely allegations of irregular lateral transfers... Anyway, that is not our topic.

Our main agenda is something else. Yesterday, there was a piece of news that many people overlooked: The Ministry of Interior announced that it would launch a mobile application called "Gereği Yapıldı" (Action Taken), where citizens can directly report crimes and traffic violations.

In the new system, citizens will be able to send photos or videos of public order and traffic violations they witness to the ministry. However, given the potential for privacy breaches and abuse, we will all see how this application evolves in Turkey, in the hands of the Turkish people.

The government is steering its citizens toward snitching with its own hands. Of course, in a normal country, this application might be very useful. But in our country? This is a country where daughters-in-law report their mothers-in-law, whom they don't get along with or are angry at, as "members of a terrorist organization," causing the poor woman to be detained while shopping at the market with her grocery bags. There are people who, out of anger at their neighbor, have them arrested by calling them "terrorists," or who drag their teachers through the mud for giving them low grades!

You will remember the complainant against manager Ayşe Barım, who is struggling for her life today. The case was opened because of someone who said, "I filed a complaint based on what I saw on social media; I don't know her, I don't even remember what I said." They say, "I got angry, so I filed a complaint." Barım, who is set to undergo open-heart surgery in two days, remained in her cell for months despite all her health problems because of this complaint. She was released to be tried without arrest, but a new arrest warrant was issued following an objection by the prosecutor's office.

Because she was hospitalized before this decision was made, police are waiting in the hospital room of Barım, who is about to undergo open-heart surgery, to arrest her again...

In other words, we live in such a country that these types of applications are very problematic. Judicial processes begin and people are imprisoned just because someone didn't like their opinion on social media and reported them. No one knows who will report whom and what will happen to them with the "Action Taken" application in traffic or any public order incident.

Imagine, you have a grudge against someone. A debt dispute; the person gets angry at you, says "Action Taken," and they actually take action and report you. And they happen to be close to someone powerful... Good luck untangling that mess!

You might say, "Come on, that wouldn't happen." It does! We saw it happen again the other day. An operation was conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office against 19 famous names for the crime of "using drugs or stimulants." These well-known names were taken from their homes, brought in for questioning, and released after blood and hair samples were taken.

Do you know how this story started? With a tip-off to the Gendarmerie. A tip-off alleging that "banned substances were being used, sold, and supplied," especially through certain social media accounts... No one knows who the informant is. If an indictment is issued, we will see who it is then.

These statements belong to our journalist friend Emrullah Erdinç, who is known for being well-versed in judicial events. Erdinç made an interesting comment: "Normally, there should be a dealer in these processes. You go to the people the dealer is supplying drugs to, and those people are detained. Or a dealer is put under technical surveillance, their contacts are investigated, and arrests are made accordingly," he says.

So, is there anything like that in this case? No. There is no technical surveillance, nor is there a dealer in the file. Everything starts with just a tip-off.

That is exactly why this new application is so dangerous... In the "Action Taken" application, no one knows who will take the action or what action will be taken.

As I said, someone can even report their neighbor just because they are bored. Justice in this country has already reached a point where everything is shaped solely by social media. A man beats, stabs, or harasses a woman; he is taken in through one door and released through the other. It is only when there is an outcry on social media that the authorities come to their senses; they go and pick them up again. People are thrown in jail just to appease social media.

There is another side to this: In this "Action Taken" application, identities will be kept confidential. In other words, no one will ever know who reported whom, when, to whom, or how.

If justice is attempted to be administered not in courthouse corridors, by law enforcement, prosecutors, or judges, but on social media or through apps where people report each other, then that blindfolded woman holding the scales will cease to be reliable.

Not that anyone has any trust left anyway... And if you add "snitching" to this, woe, just woe!