Chief prosecutor announces filing of Ergenekon indictment

Istanbul Chief Prosecutor Aykut Cengiz Engin yesterday announced the filing to Istanbul's 13th Major Criminal Court of a long-awaited indictment stemming from the Ergenekon probe, accusing 86 people of establishing a terrorist organization and plotting to overthrow the government. "The indictment includes 86 suspects, 48 of whom are in prison," Engin told a press conference. He said the 2,455-page indictment accuses the suspects of establishing and being members of an armed terrorist group, attempting to overthrow the government by force, inciting people to armed insurgency, possessing and using explosives, instigating a deadly attack on the Council of State and bombing of daily Cumhuriyet's Istanbul offices in 2006, possessing secret documents on state security, recording confidential personal data, encouraging military disobedience, and inciting public enmity and animosity. The prosecutor is seeking life sentences on the charges of establishing a terrorist group and plotting to overthrow the government. The court has 15 days to decide whether to accept the indictment, Engin said. He added that the contents of the indictment will only be released if it is accepted by the court. Responding to criticisms that the indictment had taken more than a year to file, he said, "It was an extensive probe and there was a huge volume of documents and many suspects." The prosecutor also tried to clarify what the indictment meant by "terrorist organization," saying, "Under Article 1 of the Anti-Terror Law, those who are convicted of endangering the existence of the Turkish Republic, weakening, destroying or seizing the authority of the state, eliminating fundamental rights and freedoms, or damaging the internal or external security of the state and public order are considered perpetrators of terrorism."