Key evidence in Turkey’s Balyoz coup case fabricated: Expert report

ISTANBUL

Tanyeri was arrested in 2010 and was given an 18-year sentence. DHA Photo

An expert report on Turkey’s Balyoz (Sledgehammer) coup plot case has revealed that key pieces of evidence in the case were fabricated, stating that the notes on two CDs were written by a machine, not handwritten by General Süha Tanyeri as previously alleged.

“The writings on the CDs were not written by hand, but rather by a machine,” said the report penned by Professor Salih Cengiz and given to the 4th High Criminal Court, semi-official Anadolu Agency said on Dec. 15.

The previous expert reports on digital data in the case were rejected by the Istanbul court last month, and a new board of experts was appointed to re-examine the data.

The retrial of the Balyoz case began on Nov. 3, after the Constitutional Court ruled unanimously that the convicted suspects’ rights were violated concerning “digital data and the defendants’ testimonies.”

Tanyeri was arrested in 2010 and was given an 18-year sentence. However, all 236 Balyoz suspects and convicts, including high-ranking generals, were released in June 2014 after the Constitution Court ruling. 

Journalist Mehmet Baransu had initially provided the CDs, numbered 11 and 17, as evidence for the coup case, Hürriyet reported.

An earlier private inspection, ordered by the suspects, reportedly showed that the script on two CDs was copied from Tanyeri’s authentic handwriting on notes submitted to Banarsu. Earlier demands for a legal inspection on the authenticity of the writings were rejected by the 10th Criminal Court, which was in charge of the case at the time.

Military commanders had been accused of trying to destabilize then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) government after the 2002 election, with plans to bomb mosques and trigger a conflict with Greece to pave the way for a military takeover.