Turkish court hands down 40 life sentences over plot to kill Erdogan
Source: The Guardian
A Turkish court has handed down life sentences to dozens of people accused of attempting to assassinate President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in one of the highest-profile trials dealing with last year’s attempted military coup.
Nearly 50 defendants stood trial in Muğla, near where soldiers in helicopters stormed a resort hotel where Erdoğan was on holiday in July 2016, just minutes after the Turkish leader had fled. The suspects, who were accused of orchestrating the ambush, include the president’s former military aide and other senior officers.
The court sentenced 40 to life in prison, with some receiving aggravated life sentences, reducing the possibility of parole. “Defendants have been found guilty of the charge of attempting to assassinate the president,” Judge Emirsah Bastog told the packed courtroom, according to Reuters.
The case in Muğla, which began in February, is one of several trials taking place around the country over the attempted putsch, in which helicopters and fighter jets took to the skies of Ankara and Istanbul and tanks rolled into the streets of Turkey’s largest cities as part of an attempt to oust Erdoğan.
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Kareem Shaheen in Istanbul
Wednesday 4 October 2017 18.14 BST
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/04/turkish-court-finds-soldiers-guilty-erdogan-coup-assassination-plot
