Turkish prosecutors are seeking prison sentences of up to 50 years for 22 former judges and prosecutors accused of orchestrating unlawful detentions in the so-called Revolutionary Headquarters ("Devrimci Karargah") case, allegedly acting in the interests of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).

An indictment prepared by the Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in Istanbul accuses the former judicial officials of abusing their authority to deprive individuals of their liberty through unlawful detention and imprisonment orders between 2009 and 2012, Sabah newspaper reported.

The indictment, accepted by the Bakırköy 7th High Criminal Court, seeks sentences ranging from 10 to 50 years under provisions of the Turkish Penal Code concerning deprivation of liberty through abuse of public office.

Among the defendants are former prosecutors Mehmet Berk and Mehmet Karababa, former judges Ömer Diken and Ali Efendi Peksak, and Metin Özçelik and Rüstem Eryılmaz, all of whom previously held positions in now-defunct specially authorized courts.

Prosecutors allege the defendants acted in accordance with FETÖ's objectives rather than independently assessing evidence, systematically ordering arrests, extending detentions and rejecting release requests despite insufficient grounds.

Former police chief targeted

The "Revolutionary Headquarters" case became widely known following the arrest of former police chief Hanefi Avcı, who had exposed alleged FETÖ infiltration of Türkiye's police and judiciary in his book.

Avcı was detained in September 2010, shortly after the book's publication, and accused of assisting the far-left Revolutionary Headquarters organization and leaking judicial wiretaps.

He was sentenced to 15 years and four months in prison and spent approximately three years and nine months behind bars before being released in June 2014 following a Constitutional Court ruling that his rights had been violated. He was subsequently acquitted.

The latest prosecution followed compensation lawsuits filed by five individuals who were acquitted of charges related to the Revolutionary Headquarters case.

Özgür Cafer Kalafat, Gülseren Poyraz, Muhammet Çetin, Süleyman Gürkan Anıl and Onur Sarıefe successfully sued the Treasury over their detentions, resulting in compensation payments by the state.

According to the indictment, those payments constituted financial losses to the public Treasury and prompted authorities to investigate the judicial officials responsible for the detention decisions.

The Council of Judges and Prosecutors authorized prosecution in October 2024. All 22 defendants had previously been dismissed from judicial service over alleged FETÖ links.

Several defendants also played roles in other controversial investigations, including the Ergenekon, Balyoz (Sledgehammer), match-fixing, Poyrazköy and Hrant Dink cases, which Turkish authorities have described as judicial plots linked to FETÖ.

The indictment alleges the former judicial officials violated principles of impartiality, independence and due process by using their positions to advance the group's objectives.

Ergenekon, Balyoz, Dink cases

FETÖ was also involved in several high-profile trials, Ergenekon and Balyoz. The Ergenekon conspiracy probe, dating back to 2007, led to a series of trials of military officers, politicians, academics and journalists alleged to be members of Ergenekon, a clandestine organization accused of plotting against the government.

They were convicted in 2013, but the Supreme Court of Appeals later overturned hundreds of convictions in the case. Later, Turkish authorities announced that the 2013 Ergenekon trial was based on fabricated evidence and blamed the prosecutors, who were FETÖ member soldiers, for trying to purge the military of rival officers.

In the Balyoz case, hundreds of Turkish military personnel, including high-ranking generals, were convicted for plotting a coup against the then-newly elected Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government in 2003.

Moreover, the killing of an Armenian Turkish journalist, Hrant Dink, in 2007 was FETÖ's first attempt to implicate state officials seeking to curb FETÖ's influence.

Dink, editor-in-chief of the dual-language Agos newspaper, was killed outside his Istanbul office on Jan. 19, 2007, in a case that has since stirred outrage and intrigue.

Gülen was indicted in April 2017 over Dink’s murder, with the prosecution asking for a life sentence and arguing the incident was the beginning of FETÖ’s violent acts to take over the legislative, executive and judicial organs, and all the other state institutions, including the armed forces and police, in Türkiye.

The 120-page indictment said that soldiers and police involved in the Dink murder later played an active role in the July 15 attempted coup, in which 252 people were killed.