Indictment demands life sentences for FETO accused

By Muhammed Enes Can, Hikmet Faruk Baser and Murat Kaya

ISTANBUL (AA) - A Turkish court on Monday accepted an indictment demanding life sentences for 85 suspects, including 73 former gendarmerie personnel, on charges linked to last year’s deadly coup attempt.

Up to 25 years in jail were also sought for seven people for allegedly being members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), an illegal network accused of staging the deadly coup attempt on July 15, 2016, said a judicial source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Former commander of Istanbul's Provincial Gendarmerie Command, Colonel Gurcan Sercan, 72 other gendarmerie personnel of various ranks and 19 civilians accused of being civilian imams [leaders] of a secret FETO structure inside Turkey’s gendarmerie are among the suspects.

The 841-page indictment was prepared by Istanbul Counterterrorism and Organized Crime Prosecutor Can Tuncay and sent to the Istanbul 29th High Criminal Court.

After evaluating the indictment, the court accepted it and ruled that the first hearing be held on Dec. 25 at a court in Istanbul’s Silivri district.

The prosecutor demanded three aggravated life terms of imprisonment for 85 suspects -- 73 gendarmerie personnel and 12 civilians -- as they are accused of attempting to break the constitutional order and of trying to overthrow the Turkish government and parliament.

The indictment also sought up to 22.5 years’ imprisonment for seven remaining civilians on charges of being members of an armed terrorist organization.

According to the Turkish government, FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 2016, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara has also said FETO is behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.

In the wake of the putsch attempt, tens of thousands of FETO suspects have been arrested, including many in the armed forces, police, judicial system, education and business sectors.