Turkey court clears 21 over 'coup'

Written By Unknown on Senin, 05 Agustus 2013 | 18.19

5 August 2013 Last updated at 06:58 ET
Protesters hold photos of former army chief Ilker Basbug as family members of jailed Turkish officers accused in the coup plot in Ankara on 13 July 2013

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Former army chief Ilker Basbug is one of the defendants in the trial

A court in Turkey has acquitted 21 people accused of plotting to overthrow the Islamist-rooted government.

Prison sentences of up to 47 years have been handed out to some of the other 254 defendants.

Verdicts are being read out one-by-one for those accused in the five-year "Ergenekon" trial.

Among those on trial is a former head of the armed forces, Gen Ilker Basbug, as well as other military officers, lawyers, academics and journalists.

Gen Basbug, who led the military between 2008 and 2010, has rejected all the charges against him. It is not clear what the verdict is against him.

The plot allegedly aimed to topple the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government.

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For some this trial is an important step in bringing the army, which used to see itself above the law, under civilian control. However, others think that the case has been turned into a witch hunt by the government to suppress its opponents.

There are yet others, who think some of the defendants may have been involved in the mass violations of the early 1990s but there has not been progress in investigating the link between suspects and past human rights violations.

Human rights groups say serious fair trial concerns and the prolonged pre-trial detention of some defendants have overshadowed the efforts to combat impunity of the military.

Lengthy prison sentences were expected for many of the defendants. In a separate case when hundreds of military officers were convicted last year, three former generals were given 20 year sentences for plotting to bring down the government.

The defendants face dozens of charges, ranging from membership of Ergenekon - an alleged underground terrorist organisation - to illegally possessing weapons and instigating an armed uprising against the AKP.

Prosecutors have demanded life imprisonment for Gen Basbug and 63 others, including nine other generals.

The court is sitting in a specially constructed courtroom at the high-security Silivri prison complex, west of Istanbul, where the general is being held.

The case is being seen as a key test in Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's showdown with secularist and military opponents.

Since Mr Erdogan came to power in 2002, hundreds of military officers - serving or retired - have been arrested.

Critics say there is little evidence for the charges and accuse the government of trying to silence its secularist opponents. Critics have complained that the Ergenekon investigation has focused on opponents of the AKP, which has Islamist roots. The government denies any such motives.

Turkey's military has long seen itself as the guarantor of the country's secular constitution.

It staged three coups between 1960 and 1980 and has a history of tension with the AKP.

The AKP is considered a successor to the Welfare Party, an Islamist party which led a 1996-97 government forced to resign by an army-led campaign.


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