Prosecutors seek aggravated life terms for cases linked to night of Turkey’s 2016 coup attempt

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

Public prosecutors in Istanbul on May 14 demanded aggravated life sentences in various cases linked to the night of the July 2016 coup attempt. 

Prosecutor Eray Akkavak sought aggravated life sentences for 52 suspects accused of attempting to occupy a municipality building that he said left 14 people killed and 152 injured.

In the ongoing trial at the 26th Istanbul High Criminal Court, the suspects face several charges including attempting to “overthrow the government and the constitutional order” and “attempting to overthrow parliament.”

Another public prosecutor at Istanbul’s 23rd Heavy Penal Court sought aggravated life sentences for 36 suspects linked to events that took place on the night of the coup attempt. 

Eleven people were injured when pro-coup soldiers tried to take control of Istanbul’s Kartal Bridge and the Samandira toll booth, the indictment against the former officers read.

Separately, the case continued for suspects allegedly involved in an attempt to occupy the Istanbul Police Headquarters, as well as violence on the city’s Esenler Birlik Bridge where five people were killed.

The prosecutor seeks aggravated life sentences for 21 suspects in that case.

The July 2016 coup attempt, which left 250 people killed and nearly 2,200 injured, is widely believed to have been planned and executed by the network of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen. The movement is a former close ally of the Turkish government but is now outlawed and described by the authorities as the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ).