New indictment seeks lifetime imprisonment for Fethullah Gülen, others

ISTANBUL

CİHAN photo

An indictment against 122 suspects, including U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen as one of the prime suspects, has been prepared in an investigation into the alleged creation of a fake terrorist group called Selam Tevhid, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Oct 26.

İrfan Fidan, Istanbul’s deputy chief public prosecutor, prepared an indictment regarding 122 suspects in the investigation into the fake terrorist group called Selam Tevhid and sent the indictment to Istanbul’s 14th Court of Serious Crimes, which will look into the indictment and decide whether or not to accept the investigation as a trial in the forthcoming 15 days. 

Among the key suspects in the investigation, Gülen, journalist Emre Uslu and former chief of police Yurt Atayün are facing two aggravated life sentences and up to 67.5 years of jail time. 

Gülen, Uslu and Atayün, as the main suspects in the case, are charged with “forming or managing an armed organization,” “obtaining confidential data that must be confidential for political spying purposes,” “attempting to topple the government of the Turkish Republic or preventing it from fully or partially conducting its duties,” “disrespecting the right to privacy,” “obtaining personal data illegally,” “forgery of official documents” and “effacing, concealing or altering criminal evidence.” 

The other 119 suspects also face time in prison for similar charges. 

The indictment, which was 10,529 pages long, also demanded the arrestment of Gülen and Uslu in absentia. Gülen has been self-exiled in the U.S. since the 1990s. 

A total of 968 people, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and National Intelligence Agency (MİT) head Hakan Fidan, as well as a number of ministers and journalists, were listed as complainants in the indictment.