2,988 consecutive life sentences sought for 38 suspects in coup trial

A total of 2,988 consecutive life sentences are sought for 38 out of 221 suspects in an indictment prepared into a failed coup attempt on July 15.

Turkey survived a military coup attempt on July 15 that killed over 240 people and wounded more than a thousand others. Immediately after the putsch, the government along with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pinned the blame on the faith-based Gülen movement. The movement strongly denies any involvement in the coup attempt.

Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen is cited as the number one suspect in the indictment while former Gen. Akın Öztürk is listed as the second.

According to the 2,581-page-long indictment, there are 38 people in the Peace at Home Council on whose behalf a declaration was read out on a state-run TV on the night of July 15. These people are accused of violating the Constitution, attempting to overthrow the Turkish Parliament and the government by the use of force and violence, leading an armed organization, killing 250 people, attempting to kill 2,735 others and restricting the freedoms of high-ranking commanders and state officials.

President Erdoğan and chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar, who was taken hostage by the coup plotters for hours, are listed as victims in the indictment. (turkishminute.com) March 3, 2017

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