A legal debate has begun in Turkey over the trial of generals behind the 1980 military coup who were counting on legal loopholes and the statue of limitations.
Turkey’s former Chief of Staff General Kenan Evren led a right-wing military coup against the government in 1980, staying in power for four years, during which hundreds of lives were lost and the constitution was rewritten.
On September 12 of this year, a public referendum was held, marking the 30th anniversary of the coup. The referendum, which passed by a majority, removed Article 15 from the Constitution which had previously provided Evren and other generals protection from standing trial.
Legal experts say, however, that Article 15 was in effect an amnesty, rather than immunity, and therefore cannot be revoked.
Behir Sinan Akboga, a lawyer with the Istanbul Bar Association, told Press TV, “The question is, can we try Evren and coup members if we remove Article 15 of the Constitution? No, we can’t; because Article 15 provided a cloaked amnesty and was accepted with a 92 percent public vote.”
“The date of the crime is important because we can talk about time limits here. According to Turkish penal code, a crime must be judged within 30 years of its occurrence,” Akboga added.
Ertugrul Kurkcu of the Bianet News Portal said, “It’s really important for Turkey. It’s as important as the Pinochet trial in Chile which, incidentally, couldn’t commence for a long time. Unfortunately, I think it will be the same here as the government doesn’t have a real strategy in this case.”
(Source: Press TV)
via tehran times : Turkey’s coup leaders to go on trial?.
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