Top court’s Balyoz ruling paves the way for retrial: PM Erdoğan

ANKARA

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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has indirectly welcomed the Constitutional Court’s verdict that the rights of scores of convicted suspects in the Balyoz (Sledgehammer) coup case have been violated, stressing that this could lead to retrials.  

“When I talked about the possibility of a retrial [in this case], some downplayed it. This verdict paves the way for retrials. There is now this sort of opportunity for those 230 people [convicted]. It is our hope that justice will triumph in the end,” Erdoğan told reporters at a press conference before his departure to Austria.

The Constitutional Court delivered a landmark ruling on June 18, stating that the rights of a majority of convicted suspects in the Sledgehammer coup plot case were violated.

Before heading to Austria, the prime minister also recalled that it was his government that brought the right to individual applications to the top court in 2010, which had led to the possibility of such rulings.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ also welcomed the verdict June 19, acknowledging that it could lead to the retrial of Sledgehammer suspects. “What is important is the fact the court decided unanimously on this case,” he said.