FETO-linked ex-prosecutor faces 3 life sentences

By Muhammed Enes Can

ISTANBUL (AA) - Three aggravated life sentences are being sought for a former prosecutor accused of membership in the group behind last year’s defeated coup, judicial sources said Wednesday.

Istanbul prosecutors have charged Savas Kirbas with attempting to subvert the constitutional order and overthrow the government and parliament or prevent them from performing their duties, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

They are also recommending a further 15 years for being a member of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).

FETO, led by U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen, is accused of orchestrating a deadly coup attempt in Turkey last July which martyred 249 people and wounded 2,200 others.

Kirbas was a prosecutor in the Balyoz (“Sledgehammer”) case, which accused hundreds of Turkish military personnel, including high-ranking generals, of plotting a coup against the newly elected Justice and Development (AK) Party government in 2003.

In early 2015, an Istanbul high court overturned convictions against all 236 suspects in the case and acquitted them.

In the charges Wednesday, the Istanbul Public Prosecutor’s office said Kirbas had violated suspects’ rights and broken the law along with four judges and one prosecutor while trying Balyoz.

The indictment said the Balyoz case was based on fabricated evidence prepared by FETO members who had infiltrated the judiciary.

The indictment also cited as evidence Kirbas’ use of ByLock, an encrypted smartphone messaging app allegedly designed and used by FETO members for internal-organizational communication.