Former Chief of General Staff Facing Life Sentence
The indictment about former Chief of General Staff İlker Başbuğ was now completed and presented to court. Başbuğ was arrested in January 2012 in the scope of the Internet Memorandum investigation. He stands now accused of the attempt to topple the government and commanding a criminal organization.
The attempt to overthrow the government carries an aggravated life sentence. Furthermore, the indictment seeks prison terms of between 15 and 22.5 years on charges of managing the Ergenekon terrorist organization.
Başbuğ was arrested by the Istanbul 12th High Criminal Court on Duty on 6 January after having been interrogated for several hours. The arrest warrant was released by the court on the grounds of the same reasons: "commanding a criminal group" according to Article 314/1 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK) and "attempting to use coercion and violence to overthrow a government or prevent it from carrying out its duties" as stipulated in Article 312/1 TCK.
The 39-page indictment was prepared by Special Authority Prosecutor Cihan Kansız. As reported on 2 February, it was submitted to the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court with the request to merge the file with the trial about the Action Plan against Reactionary Forces.
In June 2009, the Taraf daily reported in the context of the Ergenekon case about a document showing alleged plans to discredit the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the religious movement led by Fethullah Gülen. The document, the so-called Action Plan against Reactionary Forces, was allegedly signed by Colonel Dursun Çiçek. (YY/VK)