Detained colonel dies while under coup arrest
ISTANBUL
Representative photo from the Hürriyet archives
Arrested retired Col. Mehmet Haşimoğlu, who was on trial in a coup-plot case, died at Ankara’s GATA hospital yesterday, succumbing to a long-standing illness that had necessitated numerous operations.Haşimoğlu, 52, had been undergoing treatment since early July for a gallbladder infection that had begun only a few weeks after a stomach operation.
Haşimoğlu's wife said he was returned to prison a mere seven days after his stomach surgery, thereby exacerbating his condition.
"Can they now give me back my husband, who was perfectly healthy when they took him in?" she asked.
Haşimoğlu was detained for having his name on an entrance card list for the "Western Working Group,” which was a committee of military officials that is said to have monitored the government’s activities.
