ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - A man accused of spying for the United Arab Emirates has been found dead in his prison cell, the Istanbul prosecutor’s office said Monday. The state-run news agency described the incident as suicide.
The man was one of two suspects arrested in Istanbul earlier this month on charges of “political, military and international espionage.”
The prosecutor’s office said his body was discovered Sunday hanging from the bathroom door of the one-person cell he was being held in at Silivri prison, on the outskirts of Istanbul.
The prosecutor’s office identified him as Zaki Y.M. Hasan. He died between 8:16 a.m. when a roll-call took place and 10:22 a.m. when he was discovered during the distribution of food, it said.
An investigation has been launched, the statement said.
The two men had allegedly confessed during interrogation that they had been spying on Arab dissidents based in Turkey on behalf of the UAE, Turkish officials said.
Turkish authorities were also investigating the possibility that they could have been involved in the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last year.
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