Source: Russia Today
http://rt.com/news/turkey-ergenekon-trial-verdict-041/
A Turkish court
has handed down 17 life sentences in the ‘Ergenekon’ trial of nearly 300
alleged coup plotters, including for ex-army chief Ilker Basbug and several
other ex-top brass, along with leftist party leaders and a journalist.
The other
sentences in the case ranged from one year and three months to 117 years behind
bars, and the charges included instigating an armed uprising against Prime
Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s government, “aiding a terrorist organization”and
conducting anti-state activities.
Retired Brig. Gen. Veli Kucuk, who was convicted of founding and heading the
clandestine, secularist ultra-nationalist organization known as Ergenekon,
received a double aggravated life sentence as well as an additional 99 years
and one month in prison.
Prominent
civilian suspects in the case, including journalist Tuncay Ozkan, Workers’
Party leader Dogu Perincek, accused of “leading a terrorist organization,”
and lawyer Alparslan Aslan, identified as the assailant in the Turkish Council
of State attack also received aggravated life sentences with additional years
of imprisonment from the court.
Only 21
defendants were acquitted, and 16 others were released after the court took
into consideration the time they spent in detention during the 6-year trial.
The court’s
verdict has not yet come into power, and indictments are to be reviewed by
Turkish Supreme Court. Several defendants have already announced they will appeal.
Turkish security
forces were braced for large protests from the opposition at Silivri prison,
west of Istanbul, where the verdicts were announced.
Despite bans for
rallies being issued prior to the verdict delivery, demonstrators started
arriving to the courthouse since early in the morning. Critics of Erdogan’s
government, including the main opposition party, have described the trial as a “political
witch hunt” aimed at cracking down on the country’s strong secularist
traditions.
RT’s Irina
Galushko, reporting from outside the prison complex, said local media estimated
the number of security personnel at 10,000, with 13 water cannons having been
spotted at the site.
Reports emerged
later of tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons being used against
protesters who gathered outside the Silivri complex.
The 2,455-page
indictment listed dozens of charges against the 275 defendants, including
accusations of them being members of an alleged ultranationalist terrorist
network Ergenekon, which, according to the court, conspired to overthrow
Erdogan’s government. Prosecutors had insisted on life sentences for 64 of the
defendants.
The case was
opened in 2007 when 27 hand grenades were discovered in a house in Istanbul.
Accusations soon began circulating that the explosives were intended to be
deployed in an coup attempt. The number of suspects and allegations continued
to balloon over the proceeding five years.
Army officers,
politicians, scientists, journalists and lawyers would later be implicated in
the scheme. All of the accused deny the charges which have been levied against
them.
One of the most
notable arrests was the January 2012 detention of ex-military chief Ilker
Basbug. That members of the military feature so prominently in the case has
sparked accusations that Prime Minister Recep Erdogan is attempting to purge
the military in a bid to put it under his thumb. The Turkish military staged
three coups between 1960 and 1980 and also forced a pro-Islamist government out
of office in 1997. Over the past weekend four senior military officials were
dismissed from their posts.
“People here say that essentially Ergenikon is just a pretense under which
the Prime Minister is taking people who he personally does not like and putting
them in jail so as to get rid of dissident voices,” RT's Irina Galushko
reports from Istanbul.
Critics of the case include the main opposition party, who argue the charges
brought against the accused are vague and the trial has dragged on for a
suspiciously long period of time. They have further decried the use of
anonymous witnesses as unacceptable. Critics of the proceedings have further
characterized it as a politically motivated attempt on the part of Ergdogan’s
Islamist government to stifle secularist activists in the country.
“This trial has been ridiculous and it ends with the verdict expected from
the beginning that will be no surprise for no one. And it will be the end of
trust in Erdogan’s government for a lot of people and it also is the end for
the judicial system of Turkey,” Yunus Soner, from the Workers Party of
Turkey, told RT.
Court hearings concerning the so-called Ergenekon trial have regularly led to
violent clashes between the defendants’ supporters and police.
The trial is wrapping up in an already politically volatile climate, as Turkey
has witnessed anti-government rallies on a near weekly basis, with the latest
having taken place over the weekend. Monday’s verdict is expected to trigger
further unrest.
Key Sentences:
Military & Police
Life sentences or
more: Former armed forces chief General İlker Başbuğ, Former army commander
Hurşit Tolon, Retired Col. Dursun Çiçek, Retired Col. Fuat Selvi, Hasan Ataman
Yıldırım, retired generals Nusret Taşdeler, Hasan Iğsız and Şener Eruygur,
Retired Brig. Gen. Veli Küçük, Capt. Muzaffer Tekin.
49 years: Lt. Col. Mustafa Dönmez.
47 years: Retired Col. Arif Doğan.
41 years: Retired Maj. Fikret Emek
Politicians:
Life: Workers’ Party leader Doğu Perinçek.
21 years: Workers' Party Press Secretary Hikmet Çiçek.
15 Years: Workers' Party Secretary-General Ferit İlsever
Journalists,
Academics, Lawyers:
Life: Journalist Tuncay Özkan and lawyer Kemal Kerinçsiz.
34 years: Journalist Mustafa Balbay.
22 years: Professor Yalçın Küçük
Mafia Bosses:
12 years: Semih Tufan Gülaltay.
10 years: Drug lord Sami Hoştan
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