486 suspects in court in Turkey’s biggest coup trial
About 500 people appeared in court yesterday, in the biggest trial yet of suspects from Turkey’s failed coup.
The defendants face charges of conspiring to oust the government, using an airbase to plan the attempted putsch.
Forty-one of those held were marched into the court outside Ankara one by one in front of television cameras and the public, with each suspect held by two members of the Turkish gendarmerie and flanked by an armed soldier.
People chanted “we want the death penalty” and some threw nooses at the suspects. The death penalty has been abolished in Turkey since 2004.
There were also chants of “Martyrs don’t die, the nation won’t be divided”. Some people threw water bottles.
Nazan Aytop, who came to court to make sure the blood of the 249 victims of the coup “was not given in vain”, said she hoped the “accused would be given the sentence they deserve”.
A total of 486 suspects have been indicted and almost all – 461 – are in custody while seven are still on the run, with the remainder charged but not in jail.
During the tense opening hearing, veterans and relatives of those killed on the night of the coup attempt booed the suspects’ lawyers, Turkey’s Dogan news agency reported.
Some lawyers hit tables to protest against the “physical intervention” by some of the victims’ families as they walked past them.
The suspects are accused of running the coup attempt from the Akinci airbase northwest of the capital, where orders were sent out for fighter jets to bomb parliament.
They are charged with crimes ranging from murder, breaching the constitution and attempting to kill president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
If convicted, they face life imprisonment.
Among the main suspects named in the indictment is the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of ordering the attempted putsch on July 15 last year. Mr Gulen strongly denies the charges.
Those held in custody include former air force chief Akin Ozturk who, like several suspects, is also on trial in another case related to the coup attempt. Another prime suspect is theology lecturer Adil Oksuz, who Turkish officials accuse of being the so-called “imam” of the plot and co-ordinating action on the ground with Mr Gulen. Businessman Kemal Batmaz is accused of assisting Mr Oksuz.
Mr Oksuz was detained following the defeat of the attempted coup, but was subsequently released and is now on the run.
Mr Batmaz is in custody in Sincan prison outside Ankara.
The businessman led the line of suspects followed by Mr Ozturk.
Chief of staff Gen Hulusi Akar and other senior commanders were held hostage at the base during the coup attempt before they were freed on the morning of July 16.
The trial is taking place in Turkey’s largest courtroom, established inside a prison complex in Sincan to hear coup-related trials, which has space for 1,558 people.
The courtroom has hosted mass trials related to the coup attempt before, including one that opened in February of 330 suspects accused of murder or attempted murder.
In May, 221 suspects were put on trial accused of being ringleaders of the failed coup.
There was heavy security yesterday, including 1,130 security personnel inside and outside the courtroom.