The Turkish court ordered the arrest of 15 people suspected in the scandal of illegal phone taps of the office and residence of Turkish Prime Minister Recept Tayyip Erdogan.

Among the suspects in the case which broke out in December 2012, is a former chief bodyguard of the Turkish PM.

The bugging scandal implicates four civil servants, while the prosecutor ordered for the identification of the addresses of twelve houses and offices, some of which belong to police officers!

The investigation was initially undertaken by the Prosecutor of Ankara who also deals with terrorism cases, since it was considered that the phone tapping of Erdogan’s personal calls is a matter of espionage related to terrorism. Later on, however, the case was transferred to an Advocate dealing with crimes against constitutional order, since last March, Turkey abolished the provision which refers terrorist crimes to courts exclusively dealing with terrorism.

Already, many of the bodyguards working under the Turkish PM, but also people serving in his security forces and which have access to his office, have been called to testify on the case. The bugging devices have been sent to the prosecutor since last month and will be used as evidence in the course of the proceedings.