Court of cassation approves jail term of Gülen's lawyer

Turkey's Court of Cassation has approved a 12-year jail term for Feti Ün, the lawyer of Fethullah Gülen, the U.S.-based Islamic preacher believed to have masterminded the 2016 botched coup attempt. Ün was charged with being a member of "FETÖ", the term Ankara uses to refer to the Gülen organization.

Thursday January 23 2020 03:26 pm

Duvar English

Turkey's Court of Cassation has approved a 12-year prison sentence for Feti Ün, the lawyer of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen - believed to have masterminded the botched 2016 coup.

The court noted that the trial was conducted legally as had been the collection of evidence and that Heavy Penal Court's decision to give a sentence above the minimum limit was legal.

The Court of Cassation also agreed that Ün had "participated in the group's meetings," "aided the group" and was "responsible for the set-up of organizations' lawyers in İzmir."

Ün was arrested Nov. 11, 2016 and was later convicted by of Izmir's 13th Heavy Penal Court for "being a member of FETÖ," an acronym Ankara uses to refer to the Gülen organization that stands for "Fethullahist Terrorist Organization."

Ankara also accuses the Gülen organization of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.

During the state of emergency following the botched coup, thousands were laid off from their posts at public institutions on the grounds that they were affiliated with the Gülen organization.

The day of Ün's conviction, over 130 people were also convicted in the ongoing FETÖ trial for being members of a terror group, military and political spying, illegal wiretapping, forgery of official documents, aggravated fraud and illegal disposal of confidential documents.