Coup case appeal trial to be held with high security

ANKARA

A woman holds a banner that reads ‘Forgetting is treason - Turkish people don’t forget and forgive’ during a protest rally against the Balyoz case. DHA photo

As the appeal trial of the Balyoz (Sledgehammer) coup plot case that will kick off July 15 approaches, “a high security chamber” has been prepared at the Supreme Court of Appeals for the judges who will do an appellate review of the case with 361 defendants.

Some 250 of the defendants in the Balyoz coup plot case, which went on for about three years, have been under arrest, including opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputy Engin Alan, former Air Force chief Halil İbrahim Fırtına, former Navy chief Özden Örnek, 1st Army chief Çetin Doğan and some other high-ranking retired generals.

The chancery took special precautions to examine the case in detail after the appeal of the case file, which occupies an important place in the order of the day and is being followed by the public intimately. Reporters will be allowed in the conference room but recordings and photos will be forbidden.

High security

Combination lock systems have been set at the entrance of a chamber prepared in a smart building where the criminal departments of the high court were moved, and at the hall door, Anadolu Agency reported on July 10. The password has been given only to the judges who will work on the case file.

After completing the examination of the case file, the room will be available for examining other files if required. In this case, a new password for the room will be determined.

The hall and the room holding 1,045 case files are being watched by cameras.

On June 17, the day it received the Balyoz case file from the chief prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals, the Presidency of the Supreme Court of Appeals requested higher security from the police.

Accordingly, the special security in and around the chamber as well as the number of security forces has been increased.

None of the defendants will be able to attend the trial since it is an appeal hearing, while some 120 defense attorneys are expected to plead.

That’s why the trial is going to be held at the Supreme Court’s conference room. The hearings of the trial with 361 defendants will continue nonstop even during the judiciary recess until the defense attorneys complete their pleas.