The Supreme Court of Appeals Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has rejected a request for former military chief retired Gen. İlker Basbug, who is currently jailed in a coup plot probe, to be tried by the Supreme State Council instead of a specially authorized court, Today's Zaman reported.
Basbug's lawyer, İlkay Sezer, filed a request with the Supreme Court of Appeals Chief Public Prosecutor's Office last month for the trial of his client to take place at the Supreme State Council (Yuce Divan), a title the Constitutional Court assumes when it tries ministers, prime ministers, chiefs of General Staff and other high-ranking bureaucrats.
Evaluating the lawyer's request, the office said on Tuesday that charges leveled against Basbug are not related to his profession but are "terrorism charges." The office said the authority to try Basbug belongs to specially authorized courts and rejected the request.
Basbug was arrested last month by the İstanbul 12th High Criminal Court after he testified as a suspect in an investigation into an alleged Internet campaign to discredit Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AK Party). Soon after his arrest, a debate began over where he should stand trial. While many jurists say the charges he faces are not related to his office, others say they are.
An indictment against Basbug was completed and forwarded to a court earlier this month, seeking life imprisonment for the former military chief on coup charges. The indictment, submitted to the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court, accuses Basbug of "establishing or administering a terrorist organization" and "seeking to unseat the government of the Republic of Turkey by force." Basbug denied all the charges leveled against him during his defense testimony.
The investigation in which Basbug is implicated concerns allegations that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) set up 42 websites to disseminate anti-government propaganda. Dozens of suspects, including Basbug, are currently accused of having started an online propaganda campaign against the AK Party with the goal of instilling in the public a fear that the government was attempting to instate a religious order based on Islamic law.
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