German prosecutors file charges over illegal spyware sales to Turkey

German prosecutors have charged four people with the unauthorized sale of spying software to Turkish security services, alleging it was used in an attempt to spy on the country’s opposition just days before a decisive election.

The charges, filed in a regional court in Munich, allege that former employees of a defunct company called FinFisher deliberately routed sales through a Romanian company in order to circumvent the permits required to sell surveillance software outside the European Union. Broke German export regulations.

The FinSpy software allegedly ended up in the hands of Turkish security services, which prosecutors say targeted activists in 2017 using fake websites linked to Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the longtime leader of Turkey’s largest opposition party.

German prosecutors said on Monday that FinSpy was “first downloaded and deployed in Turkey on provided hardware, followed by training on its use”. According to prosecutors, there was a deal between Finfisher and the Turkish government for around 5 million euros.

The charges were filed days before the second round of Turkey’s presidential election, in which Kılıçdaroğlu will face off against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Kılıçdaroğlu’s six-party opposition coalition, which performed unexpectedly poorly in the first election round on May 14, has consistently said it is competing on an unfair playing field, as Erdoğan spent state resources during the campaign. able to deploy.

The alleged use of spy software by Turkish security services came in 2017, a year after an attempted coup against Erdogan. The failed coup created a rift in the military, within the government, and in academia.

Turkey’s government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the alleged sale and use of FinSpy software. The accused persons, whose names were not disclosed, could not be reached for comment.

German prosecutors launched an investigation into the four suspects in 2019 after several human rights organizations claimed the software was being used to target the opposition in Turkey.

The spyware was placed on a fake website allegedly linked to Kılıçdaroğlu’s “March for Justice”, a protest against the coup launched by Erdoğan’s government, according to a preliminary complaint filed by rights groups to prosecutors. Had been.

FinFisher formally filed for bankruptcy in 2021 after nearly a decade of marketing FinSpy, which can access a target’s messages, phone calls, cameras and microphones, and has been linked to secret services around the world.

The company was hacked in 2014 and WikiLeaks later released copies of the software, describing it as “weaponized German surveillance malware”.

Prosecutors said 15 properties in Munich and around Romania were raided as part of the investigation.