135 Turkish military judges, prosecutors face FETO case

By Zafer Fatih Beyaz and Serdar Acil

ANKARA

 The Chief Prosecutor's Office filed an indictment against 135 judges and prosecutors of the military for being linked to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) at a court in Ankara on Tuesday.

According to the indictment seen by Anadolu Agency, the suspects were part of a FETO network inside Turkish military's courts system.

The indictment also mentions a document titled “martial rule directives”, which was allegedly released by coup plotters during the July 15, 2016, defeated coup in Turkey. The illegal directives had called for appointing 135 figures from the military’s legal fraternity at "martial rule courts" following the coup bid.

The accused entered the military’s justice system between 2009 and 2014 after clearing exams under suspicious circumstances, it said.

The suspects have been charged with attempts to violate Turkey’s constitutional order, belonging to an armed terrorist organization, forging official documents and fraud.

The indictment also said a lawsuit would be opened against a former Turkish Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) expert on charges of leaking exam questions to the suspects.

The Ankara 16th heavy penal court has been urged to hand out life sentences of more than 45 years in prison to the 136 suspects.

Out of the 136 suspects, 123 are in custody, three are on the run and 12 were released under judicial control.

Previously, 31 other judges and prosecutors working at Turkish military courts were indicted based on the same “martial rule directives” document; the trial of these suspects began on Monday.

According to Turkey’s government, FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup which left 249 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara has also said FETO is behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.

In wake of the putsch attempt, tens of thousands of FETO suspects have been arrested, including many in the armed forces, police, judicial system, education and business sector.