TURKEY: 40 sentenced to life in prison for attempting to assassinate Erdogan

No less than 40 suspects have been convicted by a court in Turkey for attempting to assassinate President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during last year’s failed coup attempt that left hundreds dead.

Among those convicted were thirty-one defendants, including senior military officers, who were each given four life sentences at Wednesday’s major trial of rogue soldiers.

According to reports, some verdicts have already been handed out in lower-profile cases, but this is the first ruling involving alleged top plotters.

Read also: Turkey set for its largest trial with nearly 500 to face judges over failed coup

“The president’s life was at stake that night – not only his actually but all his family because in that southwestern city Mugla he was on vacation with his family: his daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren,” Sinem Koseoglu, Al Jazeera’s Turkey correspondent, said.

“Erdogan is the plaintiff of this lawsuit against this ‘assassination team’.”

The trial began on February 20 and is one of many such processes taking place across Turkey to try those accused of taking part in the failed bid to overthrow Erdogan.

 

 

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