Released coup plot case convicts vow to ‘continue fight’

ANKARA

Alan’s release came after an Istanbul court ruled for the release of all convicts in the Balyoz case. AFP Photo

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputy and retired general, Engin Alan, has vowed “punishment” for prosecutors of the Balyoz (Sledgehammer) coup plot trial, in his first comments following his release on June 19.

Alan’s release came after an Istanbul court ruled for the release of all convicts in the Balyoz case, a day after the Constitutional Court ruled that the rights of 230 convicts were violated and they should be retried.

 “All the things that have been done so far cannot be ignored. If we ignore them, it would be a treason to our friends who lost their lives [in prison or still being tried],” he told reporters after his release from Ankara’s Sincan Prison.

“This struggle will continue until all crooked [officials] who planned or supported this ignominy sit in front of the honorable judges of this country and get the punishment they deserve. Nobody should think they can get away with what they have done so far,” the MHP deputy added.

“The Constitutional Court has restored the reputation of this country’s judiciary, which was damaged due to the rulings of the Specially Authorized Courts, and gave it back to the people,” Alan said, adding that he would have more to say in the coming days to “those who have attacked [the Balyoz convicts] via the media while they were in prison.”

With the latest ruling, no more lawmakers will remain behind bars, as those who were sentenced to 28 years in prison have also been released.

Former First Army General Çetin Doğan, who was also released along with the other convicted suspects, said after his release that their struggle would come to an end only when those who plotted the Balyoz case against the military officers were “in prison themselves.”

“We don’t want this because of hate. But in order to prevent those people from plotting against other innocent people,” said Doğan.

He added that it was difficult to forget what happened after some who were also being tried in the same case died while in prison.