Reversal of Ergenekon decision demanded by Supreme Court

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

DHA Photo

Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals Prosecutor’s Office has demanded the reversal of the decision in the Ergenekon coup plot case from a methodological perspective, without entering into the essence of the case. 

In a 91-page letter of notification sent to the Supreme Court of Appeals’ 16th penal chamber, the Supreme Court of Appeals Prosecutor’s Office demanded the reversal of the decision in the Ergenekon coup plot case from a methodological perspective. 

İlker Başbuğ, the former Chief of Staff who was sentenced to life, was not given the right for a final word, as Başbuğ could not attend the last hearing due to health reasons. The notification read that punishing a suspect without allowing their final say was against the Law of Criminal Procedure’s 216th article. 

The letter of notification also demanded the case be dropped against eight of the convicts who had died. It stated some convicts had been punished or acquitted in cases that were not opened against them. 

It is against the law to not listen to the witnesses that have been listed before the court, which was committed, the notification stated. 

The Ergenekon coup plot trial, considered the most important legal battle in recent Turkish history, reached an end Aug. 5, 2013, after Istanbul’s 13th High Criminal Court handed down severe punishments. 

The verdict trial, which decided the fate of 275 suspects at the end of a five-year process, resulted in hundreds of years of imprisonment in total and several aggravated life sentences for a series of the country’s high-ranking army members, journalists and academics.

Suspects faced a series of charges from a combined mass of different cases, but with the overall focus around their implication in the Ergenekon network, which was ultimately acknowledged by the court as a terrorist organization that had attempted to overthrow the government.

The trial was sent to the Supreme Court of Appeals Prosecutor’s Office following the appeals issued. 

The Supreme Court of Appeals’ 16th penal chamber was the latest post to reach a decision.