The Sledgehammer trial, which began in 2010 and had 365 suspects, was concluded on Friday by the İstanbul 10th High Criminal Court at the 108th hearing of the case. The court handed down 20-year prison sentences to three retired generals who were key suspects, acquitted 36 suspects and gave 16-18-year sentences to the other suspects.“If the alleged plan had been put into action, many people would have been killed, and there would have been serious human rights violations,” said AI in its statement.
Sledgehammer is a suspected coup plot believed to have been devised in 2003 with the aim of unseating the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government through violent acts. According to the Sledgehammer plan, the military was to systematically foment chaos in society through acts of violence, among which were planned bomb attacks on the Fatih and Beyazıt mosques in İstanbul.
AI said it is of crucial importance to investigate such claims [of coup plotting] effectively and refer those who are responsible to the judiciary after a fair trial.
The group also recalled that three military coups have taken place in Turkey since 1960, the one in 1980 being the last and leading to extensive and systematic human rights violations.
“Those responsible for rights violations have not yet been referred to the judiciary,” it said.
The İstanbul court’s ruling was the first of its kind as coup plotters or perpetrators in Turkey have so far gone unpunished.
Dwelling on the debates in Turkey concerning the Sledgehammer trial, AI said while one group believed it is a landmark trial that deals with long-lasting human rights violations in the military, another group believed that it is a government attempt to silence its opponents in the military.
AI also said there were some problems in the trial process due to claims that some of the evidence used in the trial is fabricated.
According to AI, the Sledgehammer trial underlines the importance of the referral of those responsible for rights violations to the judiciary and guarantees the effective investigation of such allegations and the carrying out of an investigation process that is in compliance with international standards.
(Hürriyet Daily News)
