Generals Receive Prison Terms as Coup Plot Trial Draws to a Finale

The 10^th High Criminal Court in Istanbul's Silivri district finally reached a verdict in the "Balyoz" ("Sledgehammer") coup plot case during the 108^th hearing of the trial on Friday.

The chief suspect in the case, former First Army Commander ret. Gen. Çetin Doğan, as well as ret. Adm. Özden Örnek, the former chief of the Turkish navy, and ret. Gen. Halil İbrahim Fırtına, the former head of the Turkish air force, received aggravated life time imprisonment sentences on the charge of attempting a coup de tat. The court later reduced their penalties down to 20 years in prison, however, on the grounds that their attempt was partial.

A total of 78 suspects received 18 years in prison, including ret. Lt. Gen. Engin Alan, who is also an Istanbul deputy of the far right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP,) ret. Gen. Ergun Saygun, Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) member Gen. Bilgin Balan, ret. Lt. Gen. Nejat Bek, ret. Gen. Şükrü Sarıışık, ret. Col. Cemal Temizöz, ret. Brig. Gen. Süha Tanyeri and Vice Adm. Deniz Cora.

Some 365 suspects were standing trial in the case, 250 of them arrested pending trial.

The court also sentenced 216 suspects to 16 years in prison, including ret. Col. Dursun Çiçek, Judge Advocate Col. Ahmet Zeki Üçok, Col. Ali Türkşen, ret. Col. Erdal Akyazan and Ömer Faruk Ağa Yarman, the director of the arms company HAVELSAN.

While 35 suspects were acquitted in the case, the court also separated the file of ret. Brig. Gen. Levent Ersöz on the grounds that he had not attended the hearings. 330 of the 365 suspects received the highest penalties prescribed by the law, reportedly for not maintaining good conduct in the courtroom.

Defendant lawyer Hüseyin Ersöz later said in a Twitter message that the suspects' acquaintances had started booing the court, while others began feeling faint following the announcement of the verdict. The suspects also began singing marches after the court delegation left the courtroom, he added.

"The court refused to examine allegations of fabricated evidence"

Opposition People's Republican Party (CHP) deputy Ali Özgündüz claimed the suspects' right to defense had been violated, as the court delegation was not allowed to pass a verdict without a lawyer for crimes whose penalties were in excess of five years.

"If you say that the coup plot did not go beyond a [failed] attempt and that the back-then Chief of Staff Hilmi Özkök had averted it, then why did you not call him in as a witness? Why did Özkök not partake in this trial as a witness despite our request?" lawyer Salim Şen also said.

Meanwhile, Gen. Çetin Doğan's daughter Pınar Doğan said they were not surprised by the decision during a live interview on the broadcasting station CNNTürk.

"The court refused to examine the evidence which exposed the fabrication [of documents.] This was not a real trial... [Experts] in Turkey, the U.S. and Germany determined that the CDs known as the 'Balyoz' documents were fabricated. We told them to appoint their own experts if they did not believe in these reports, and they rejected that, too," she said.

"I do not know anything about the [appeals] process. I have no hopes left in Turkey; we are going to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights... The police who was supposed to investigate the culprits who forged [these] fake documents is rather concerned about covering up the deeds of this gang along with the judge and the prosecutors," she also said. (EKN/NV)