Court turns down intervening requests

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

Hundereds of Sept 12, 1980, military coup victims and relatives of those killed during the coup era had applied to be an intervening party in the trial. DHA photo

Hundreds of individuals’ applications to intervene in the landmark tribunal for Turkey’s Sept. 12, 1980, coup d’état as litigant parties against coup leaders Kenan Evren and Tahsin Şahinkaya have been rejected by the Ankara court overseeing the trial.

“The ruling demonstrates that the coup is regarded as a matter within the state. We are going to [appeal to] the European Court of Human Rights,” said Mehmet Horuş, the lawyer for the Revolutionary 78’ers Federation.

The court rejected intervention demands from the families of Erdal Eren, whose legal age was raised to allow for his execution, journalist Abdi İpekçi, who was assassinated in the days leading up to the coup, and prosecutor Doğan Öz.

The court only accepted the applications filed by three individuals due to the probability that they may have been subjected to harm during the coup. Abdülgani Aşık, Ahmet Cihan and Mardin independent deputy Ahmet Türk will consequently join the tribunal as litigant parties because they were members of Parliament at the time of the coup.

The court cited the lack of “credible documents regarding torture, ill-treatment, murder through torture, disappearance under custody and other rights violations” presented by those who wished to intervene in the trial as reasoning for its decision. The Ankara court has yet to announce its decision on applications for “institutional intervention” in the trial filed by a number of organizations. The decision is expected in the coming days.