08 June 2017•Update: 08 June 2017
By Murat Paksoy, Muhammed Enes Can and Mustafa Hatipoglu
ISTANBUL
Fifteen former government officials, including six governors and a police chief were indicted at a criminal court in Istanbul on Thursday for suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), according to a judicial source.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office had submitted the indictment that seeks three aggravated life sentences for each suspect, the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on talking to the media, said.
Among the suspects are Istanbul’s former police chief Huseyin Capkin and the city’s former Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu; 13 out of the total suspects are in custody.
The suspects are accused of attempting to abolish the constitutional order, attempting to overturn the Turkish parliament and oust the current government.
The 309-page indictment also accuses the suspects of being members of an armed terror organization; prosecutors seek additional five to 10 years jail terms on this charge.
The indictment seeks to re-issue arrest warrants for Capkin and former Denizli Governor Abdulkadir Demir; the two had been released earlier.
It also seeks seven-and-a-half years to 15-year jail terms for eight suspects, including Mutlu for allegedly financing terrorism.
Three suspects are also accused of using the ByLock messenger app -- an encrypted smartphone software that authorities suspect FETO members used to communicate with each other.
According to the Turkish government, FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.
Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.
