Testimony of arrested Ferhat Gündoğdu revealed: What did he say about the audio recording?

MHK President Ferhat Gündoğdu, who was referred to the judgeship as part of the MHK investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, has been arrested. An arrest warrant had been requested for Gündoğdu on the charge of "Unlawfully Recording Personal Data."

Testifying in the investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office's Bureau of Investigation into Illegal Betting and Sports Crimes, Gündoğdu stated that he understood the accusations against him and reiterated the statement he gave to law enforcement.

"I DO NOT THINK IT WAS MALICIOUS"

Defending himself regarding the audio recording allegedly found on his phone, Gündoğdu said he was unaware of the recording. Gündoğdu stated, "I wasn't even aware that the recording was on my phone; when it was shown to me, I didn't remember it, so I couldn't respond. I do not think such a recording was malicious. I only learned about it after it leaked onto Twitter. I am innocent, I request to be released."

In its decision, the Istanbul 5th Criminal Judgeship of Peace evaluated that there was concrete evidence and facts indicating strong suspicion of a crime to justify the implementation of the arrest measure against Gündoğdu and MHK member Yunus Yıldırım.

The decision stated that, based on the evidence in the file, it was concluded that the suspects had set aside the principles of personal development and merit in referee appointments, unlawfully recorded certain personal data regarding referees, and used this data in referee appointments.

The judgeship also assessed that the use of the data in question prevented some referees from performing their public duties. It was decided that Ferhat Gündoğdu and Yunus Yıldırım would be arrested separately.