October 26, 2017•Update: October 26, 2017
By Abdulkerim Satuk Bugrahan Topaloglu, Ozgur Alantor, Volkan Kasik and Omer Sut
ANKARA
At least five suspects linked to Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) were convicted and received prison sentences in three separate court hearings on Thursday, according to judicial officials.
FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.
Ankara accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.
The suspects were accused of being members of an armed terrorist organization and using ByLock mobile application, an encrypted smartphone messaging app used by FETO members before and during last year's coup attempt.
The 2nd Criminal Court in southern Adana province sentenced two ex-police officers to more than six years in prison, an official, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on talking to the media, said.
Another former police officer was sentenced to more than seven years in prison by the 2nd Criminal Court in eastern Malatya province.
The suspect, who denied the charges, was revealed to have used ByLock 3,644 times.
In another hearing, a FETO-linked former teacher and a dormitory employee in northern Kastamonu province were sentenced to more than six years in prison.
Meanwhile, Taner Kilic, a representative of Amnesty International in Turkey, who had been detained earlier for using ByLock stood trial on Thursday.
Kilic was arrested in a police raid during a meeting on Buyukada Island off Istanbul in July on charges of being a member of and aiding the FETO.
The court has postponed the hearing until Nov. 22 to hear the testimony of the manager of the hotel, where the meeting was held.
