ISTANBUL
Istanbul's Anadolu prosecution office has launched an investigation into an alleged forgery of digital data in the ongoing Sledgehammer military coup plot case, also known as Balyoz.
The probe was launched on Wednesday after Anadolu 4th Criminal Court ruled that digital data from compact discs used in evidence in the trial, could have been fabricated.
The "Sledgehammer" ("Balyoz" in Turkish) plot was allegedly designed by a junta in the Turkish Armed Forces in order to overthrow the government.
Halil Ibrahim Baser, the prosecutor of Investigation Office of General Preparations, will conduct the investigation.
The same court decided in April to acquit 63 defendants in the country’s long-running case after overturning the convictions of 236 defendants in the case at the end of March.
The plan, allegedly aimed at undermining the government in order to lay the groundwork for a military takeover, is said to date back to 2003, a year after the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party came to power.
The Turkish Supreme Court had sentenced the defendants to six to 20 years imprisonment in September 2012.
However, Turkey’s Constitutional Court unanimously overruled that verdict in June 2014 on the grounds that the rights of the defendants had been violated.
