Turkish UN judge gets over 7 years for FETO membership

Baris Kilic and erdar Acil

ANKARA (AA) – A Turkish judge has been sentenced to over seven years in prison for being a member of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) which Ankara accuses of being behind last July's coup attempt, a judicial source said Wednesday.

Ankara’s 16th High Criminal Court sentenced Aydin Sefa Akay -- who was on a UN panel hearing the Rwandan genocide case -- to seven years and six months in jail, the source said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.

Akay -- who was remanded last year as part of a FETO probe in the aftermath of the failed coup attempt-- denied accusations and demanded an acquittal during the hearing.

The court also ruled Akay be released under judicial supervision and be banned from traveling abroad until the sentence was declared final.

According to the government, FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 2016, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara 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.

Since the defeated coup, operations have been ongoing in the military, police and judiciary, as well as in state institutions across the country, to arrest suspects with alleged links to FETO.