More Suspects Placed Behind Bars in Sledgehammer Case

Before entering the Beşiktaş Courthouse, retired Gen. Çetin Doğan told reporters that all evidence in the Sledgehammer case is fabricated. He is currently in Metris Prison.

Retired Gen. Çetin Doğan, the former head of the 1st Army, and seven other suspects in the Sledgehammer coup case were arrested after surrendering to İstanbul police on Monday.

The İstanbul 10th High Criminal Court last week ruled to put 163 retired and active duty members of the military -- including former top commanders -- behind bars on coup charges as part of an ongoing case into the Sledgehammer Security Operation Plan, devised in 2003 to unseat the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government. Sledgehammer is a subversive plot allegedly prepared by a clique inside the military that included plans to crash jets and bomb large mosques at busy prayer hours to undermine the AK Party with the hope of eventually overthrowing it. More retired and active duty members of the Turkish military, including former head of the 1st Army, Gen. Çetin Doğan, were arrested and put behind bars on Monday. The officers are all accused of a failed attempt to overthrow the government. Such a charge calls for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison All 133 suspects who attended the Sledgehammer hearing on Friday at the İstanbul 10th High Criminal Court were arrested and sent to prison. One of the suspects whom the court wanted to arrest was already under arrest as part of a separate criminal case. The court also issued arrest warrants for the 29 suspects who did not attend the hearing. While some of the suspects surrendered to security forces and were later arrested over the weekend, others are reported to be at large. Early in the morning hours on Monday, Doğan, retired Gen. Nuri Ali Karababa, Gen. Nejat Bek, Gen. Hasan Fehmi Canan, retired Col. Ümit Özcan, Maj. Gökhan Murat Üstündağ, Maj. Refik Hakan Tufan and noncommissioned officer Halil Yıldız surrendered at the Beşiktaş Courthouse. Before entering the building, Doğan spoke to reporters about the Sledgehammer case, arguing that all evidence in the case is “fabricated.” “There is not a single genuine signature on the documents. All are digital documents. Police officers put themselves in the place of prosecutors and judges and made a judgment about the documents. All of those documents were hastily prepared. All of them are fabricated,” he stated. Doğan is a prime suspect in the Sledgehammer case. He is alleged to be the mastermind behind the coup plan. He was arrested in April of last year on coup charges but was released for health reasons. The retired general also told reporters that his lawyer would appeal the court’s arrest decision. “If our appeal is rejected, then we will start a protest. We will not deliver defense statements during the trial. Our lawyers will take off their cloaks, and we will speak to our nation. I will prepare a manifesto. In addition, I will prepare my own indictment. We will no longer talk to prosecutors and judges,” he added. Gen. Nejat Bek, Gen. Hasan Fehmi Canan, Retired Gen. Nuri Ali Karababa (from left to right) In addition, Doğan stated that he would not go to the hospital even if his medical condition becomes serious. “I will continue to attend the trial,” he noted. In response to a question over why two suspects -- Gen. Ergin Saygun and Gen. Recep Rıfkı Durusoy -- were hospitalized at the Gülhane Military Academy of Medicine (GATA) shortly after the arrest order, Doğan said the two had health problems. The suspects who surrendered underwent a health check at the courthouse. They were later sent to different prisons. Doğan was sent to Metris Prison, while active duty officers were sent to Hasdal Prison. “I am going on duty. This is a mobilization day. I told them [prosecutors] all the facts. They are arresting us without allowing us to defend ourselves,” he told reporters as he left the courthouse. In the meantime, Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu told TRT 1, Turkey’s first and oldest television station owned by the state, that he expects justice for the Sledgehammer suspects. “What justice requires should be done. If there is a culprit, he should be investigated. But why did they [Sledgehammer suspects] get arrested? So that they would not destroy evidence. They [prosecutors] have been protecting the evidence. The suspects were once arrested and later released. None of them ran away. And they have been rearrested. For what reason?” he asked. According to Mehmet Baransu, a columnist for the Taraf daily, some Sledgehammer suspects who have not surrendered to police thus far are planning to flee out of fear that the scope of the Sledgehammer case will expand and that they will be handed harsher punishments. Some plans included in Sledgehammer, he said, date back to the Feb. 28, 1999 post-modern coup. “The suspects are concerned that the Sledgehammer case will be merged with a case to be initiated against the Feb. 28 coup some day. Therefore, they are planning to flee abroad with their fortunes,” he wrote in yesterday’s column. Some Sledgehammer suspects were prohibited from travelling abroad by court order. On Feb. 28, 1999, the military overthrew the coalition government led by Necmettin Erbakan of the now-defunct Welfare Party (RP) on the grounds that it was engaging in religious fundamentalism. Prosecutors involved in separate coup cases believe the post-modern coup was the work of a shady network nested in the deep state. Protests expected from suspects’ wives, lawyers Doğan’s wife, Nilgün Doğan, told the Milliyet daily that the wives of Sledgehammer suspects who have been arrested plan to take to the streets in the coming days to protest the arrests. “We will take to the streets against injustice,” Mrs. Doğan was quoted as saying. In addition, lawyers for Sledgehammer suspects are reportedly planning to remove themselves from the case. The lawyers held a meeting at the İstanbul Bar Association that was chaired by the association’s president, Ümit Kocasakal. Doğan’s lawyer Celal Ülgen told the public that the lawyers plan to protest the arrest of the suspects. “We do not want to become a part of injustice. We do not want to ‘legalize’ a judiciary that is for us neither trustworthy nor independent,” he said. Ülgen also said the lawyers will make their final decision public after a meeting. If the lawyers decide to withdraw from the case, the court will appoint new lawyers from bar associations to defend the suspects. We have already stated that some people attacking Gulen Charter Schools have deep and heartfelt relationship with Ergenekon organization.