An Istanbul court on Thursday handed out prison terms for 42 defendants and acquitted 23 others in a trial over the Gülenist Terror Group’s (FETÖ) July 15, 2016 coup attempt.
The suspects were former military officers accused of involvement in a string of incidents at a military base in the city’s Asian side viewed as support to putschists. The court ruled for nonprosecution for 73 other defendants. Another five defendants were ordered to be released with a ban on traveling abroad.
Among dozens launched against putschists, the trial covered allegations that soldiers stationed at the second Armoured Brigade Command in Istanbul’s Maltepe district joined the coup attempt. Twenty-eight soldiers were jailed pending trial, while others were released pending trial in earlier hearings. Some defendants had claimed that they were against the coup attempt and confronted putschists while others claimed they were following orders of their superiors and were not aware of a coup unfolding.
Thirty-eight defendants were sentenced to prison terms between 12 and 15 years for aiding the crime of an attempt to overthrow the constitutional order. Two defendants were sentenced for membership in a terrorist group, though their sentencing was postponed by the court. A nonprosecution verdict was issued on the grounds that defendants “erred” while obeying orders they were required to follow.
Most putschist officers surrendered when a strong public resistance, aided by police and some soldiers opposing the putschists, quelled the coup attempt.
Over 200 lawsuits were filed against putschists and since the first trials in 2017, over 8,725 people were prosecuted, while 1,634 defendants were sentenced to aggravated lifetime imprisonment.
