Turkish court sentences 16 İTÜ academics to 3-7 years in prison over alleged Gülen links

A Turkish court sentences 16 academics from the prestigious İstanbul Technical University (İTÜ) to varying lengths of prison sentence on Friday over their alleged links to the Gülen movement.

İstanbul 13^th High Criminal Court held the final hearing for a case targeting the alleged supporters of the Gülen movement during a 3-day session. Five out of 35 academics involved in the case were sentenced to 6 years and 3 months in jail while 8 academics were given 7,5 years in prison; another academic was given 4 years and 2 months; and 2 others were given 3 years, 1 month and 15 days of jail sentence.

All sixteen academics were convicted on charge of membership to an alleged “terror group.” The trial for the remaining 19 academics would continue in a separate case, the court ruled.

Turkey survived a controversial military coup attempt on July 15, 2016 that killed 249 people. Immediately after the putsch, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government along with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement.

Fethullah Gülen, who inspired the movement, strongly denied having any role in the failed coup and called for an international investigation into it, but President Erdoğan — calling the coup attempt “a gift from God” — and the government initiated a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody.

Turkey has suspended or dismissed more than 150,000 judges, teachers, police and civil servants since July 15. On December 13, 2017 the Justice Ministry announced that 169,013 people have been the subject of legal proceedings on coup charges since the failed coup.

Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu announced on April 18, 2018 that the Turkish government had jailed 77,081 people between July 15, 2016 and April 11, 2018 over alleged links to the Gülen movement.

The post Turkish court sentences 16 İTÜ academics to 3-7 years in prison over alleged Gülen links appeared first on Stockholm Center for Freedom.

from Stockholm Center for Freedom https://stockholmcf.org/turkish-court-sentences-16-itu-academics-to-3-7-years-in-prison-over-alleged-gulen-links/