Turkey hands aggravated life sentences to a dozen alleged putschists

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A Turkish court handed a dozen military personnel aggravated life sentences on Wednesday for their alleged links to the failed coup attempt in July 2016, according to state media.

Over 100 people were sentenced for links to the coup, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.

A judiciary source told AA that a heavy penal court in the capital city of Ankara announced its verdict against 132 alleged members of Fethullah Gulen’s Hizmet (Service) movement - accused by Ankara of orchestrating the failed coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The failed coup attempt, blamed on Erdogan’s former ally, resulted in the death of 251 people and injured 2,200 others, according to AA. 

Twelve army personnel were given aggravated life sentences for attempting to violate the constitutional order, according to the unnamed source. Eight other suspects were sentenced to life in jail on the same charges. 

 An aggravated life sentence means no prospect of an early release. 

The remaining suspects were sentenced to six to 34 years in prison. Nine people were acquitted.  

The charges included depriving various victims and complainants of their liberty, being a member of an armed terror organization, and murder. 

The Turkish defence ministry said on Wednesday that they have removed 30,833 alleged members of the movement from the army.  

According to the latest annual report on crackdowns against Gulen’s movement, published in January, 125,678 civil servants were dismissed and 270 students were dismissed from school and universities for their alleged links to the movement. A total of 2,761 institutions and organizations were also closed for the same reason.