Courts in Istanbul on Wednesday released two more detainees in the large-scale ‘Ergenekon’ trial into an alleged network of hardline nationalists formed to topple Turkey’s incumbent government.
Erhan Timuroglu, who was accused of involvement in a 2006 gun attack on Turkey’s top administrative court -- the Council of State -- and of bombing the offices of the Cumhuriyet newspaper the same year, was freed along with former army member Zekeriya Ozturk on Wednesday.
After leaving prison Ozturk told the press he was the first person in Turkey to be arrested for “inciting the public to armed rebellion” on January 25, 2008.
“A lot of people important for the country are now in custody. They also need to be released,” said Ozturk.
Timuroglu said the court’s decision to put him into prison was illegitimate, claiming that he had nothing to do with the court attack, the newspaper bombing, nor with Ergenekon.
“They made up a person named Osman Yildirim, and with his allegations they put as all into prison,” said Timuroglu.
The Ergenekon case was filed six years ago against 275 people, including military officers, politicians and journalists, over an apparent conspiracy to overthrow the incumbent Justice and Development (AK) Party government.
Forty-five people implicated in the case, including military officers and journalists, have been released since Monday.
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