Six İstanbul police officers accused of planting drugs and counterfeit bills in a car belonging to two Syrians have been arrested upon a complaint filed by the Syrians, the Kronos news website reported on Thursday.
A car belonging to Muhammed Nadir Hamud and Maher El Salman was stopped by police officers on March 13 in Esenyurt.
There was cash in the car totaling $9,156 and TL 33,900 ($2,300), which reportedly belonged to the company where the Syrians worked.
The police officers searched the car and detained Hamud and El Salman, saying they found drugs, a huge amount of cash and some counterfeit bills in the car.
After being taken to the police station, the Syrians filed complaints against the police officers, claiming that the drugs and counterfeit bills were planted by the police officers who searched the car.
An investigation conducted due to the complaints revealed that the Syrians’ version of events was correct. It was also found that the police officers in question also reported the money found in the car to be $3,456 and TL 14,770 ($1,000) in their official report.
Judicial and administrative investigations were launched into the police officers, who were put in pretrial detention by a court. The Syrians were released.
Refugees in Turkey have been increasingly targeted by hate speech and hate crimes and are blamed for many of Turkey’s social and economic troubles.
Turkish media including pro-government and opposition outlets fuel and exploit the flames of hatred against people who fled their countries and sought refuge in Turkey.