PROSECUTOR ASKS FOR MORE IMPRISONMENT IN ERGENEKON CASE

Mehmet Ali Pekguzel, a prosecutor in Istanbul, demanded the Istanbul Criminal Court to send a businessman and a lawyer to prison in the ongoing Ergenekon case.
During the first hearing of the second "Ergenekon" case, Pekguzel requested that Sinan Aygun, the chairman of the Ankara Chamber of Commerce (ATO), and lawyer Levent Temiz be arrested.
Also the prosecutor demanded that the second "Ergenekon" case should be combined with the first "Ergenekon" case since suspects were accused of same crimes.
Prosecutor Pekguzel asked the court to send retired generals Sener Eruygur and Hursit Tolon, who are tried without detention after their release from prison, to the Forensic Medicine Institute in order to get a health report.
The court delegation adjourned the hearing to discuss the demands.
The Istanbul Criminal Court began trying 56 suspects under the second indictment of the "Ergenekon" probe earlier on Monday. 16 of those suspects have already been under arrest. Prosecutors demanded aggravated life imprisonment for 13 suspects of the Ergenekon probe.
Tolon and Eruygur, along with ten other suspects, are accused of masterminding the alleged criminal network with the aim of overthrowing the Turkish government by using force. They are also accused of involving in the armed attack on members of the Council of State and bomb attacks on the Cumhuriyet daily's headquarters in Istanbul. If convicted, they could face aggravated life imprisonment term for three times.
Prosecutors also demanded aggravated life imprisonment for Sinan Aygun on charges of being a member of the alleged criminal network. Among the 56 suspects charged are two journalists: Mustafa Balbay, representative of the Cumhuriyet daily in Ankara, and Tuncay Ozkan. Prosecutors also demanded aggravated life imprisonment for the journalists.
Also, the third indictment including accusations against 52 suspects was prepared under the "Ergenekon" probe on Monday, and sent to the Istanbul Criminal Court.
The 1454-page indictment includes accusations against 52 suspects who were arrested between January 10 and April 17, 2009. 37 of those suspects have been under arrest.
The alleged criminal network that came to be known as "Ergenekon" was revealed after police seized 27 grenades, TNT explosives and fuses in a shanty house in Istanbul on June 12, 2007 and Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation into weapons. Police waged operations in several provinces and detained a number of people, including retired senior army officers, journalists and businessmen, for their alleged involvement in the network.