Former Istanbul governor sent to court over failed coup attempt

ISTANBUL

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A former Istanbul governor, who was on duty during the nationwide Gezi Park protests in 2013, was sent to court over the July 15 failed coup attempt on Aug. 4. He was detained on July 26 as part of the ongoing crackdown on the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ), which has been accused of orchestrating the failed takeover. 

Mutlu and nine other suspects, including five governors, a deputy governor and three district governors, received health checks at Bayrampaşa State Hospital, where several protesters had gathered.

“Traitors! They should be hanged!” the group of protestors shouted, as several of them punched the riot police bus which was transferring Mutlu and the nine other suspects.

They were then taken to the court in Istanbul’s Çağlayan neighborhood. 

Mutlu was one of the 246 local authorities suspended from their duties by the Interior Ministry in the aftermath of the coup plot.

He was reportedly charged with transferring charity money worth half a million Turkish liras to private teaching institutions belonging to U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen when he was governor of the southeastern province of Diyarbakır between 2007 and 2010, Anadolu Agency reported. 

Mutlu was also the governor of the southeastern province of Siirt between 2005 and 2007 and Istanbul between 2010 and 2014.