Turkish court sentences 104 FETÖ suspects to life in prison

İZMİR

A Turkish court on May 21 sentenced 104 people to life in prison for involvement in a failed military coup in 2016, in one of the heaviest penalties given since the attempt.

The court in the Aegean province of İzmir handed “aggravated life” sentences to 104 of the 280 defendants, the harshest punishment possible under Turkish law as it raises the minimum time in jail required for parole.

Another 21 people were given 20 years in prison for insulting the president, while 31 others were sentenced to 10 years and six months for “membership of a terrorist organization.”

More than 240 people, most of them unarmed civilians, were killed on the night of July 15, 2016, when a group of rogue soldiers commandeered tanks and warplanes in an attempt to attack parliament.

The network of the U.S.-based Fetullah Gülen is widely believed to have been behind the July 2016 coup attempt, which left 250 people killed and nearly 2,200 injured.

Back on May 18, a court in Istanbul handed down heavy jail terms to 63 suspects including ex-military students and officers for taking part in the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, according to a judicial source.

The suspects were convicted of involvement in the killing of at least six people, including one police officer, and the wounding of 42 others on a highway near Istanbul, said the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The court handed down aggravated life sentences to six former high-ranking military officers on charges of murder, being members of a terrorist organization, and attempting to overthrow the constitutional order.

The court also gave life sentences to 57 ex-military students for attempting to overthrow the constitutional order.