Turkish football fans go on trial for alleged coup attempt

Reuters in Istanbul
The Guardian, Tuesday 16 December 2014 12.37 GMT

Thirty-five Turkish football fans have gone on trial accused of attempting to stage a coup during mass protests last year, in a case that the political opposition and rights groups say is an abuse of the justice system by a government bent on revenge.

Prosecutors are seeking life sentences for the supporters of the Istanbul team Besiktas. They are accused of helping organise the protests that erupted in Istanbul’s Taksim Square in May 2013 and grew into a major challenge to the then prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Erdoğan, who won the presidential election in August, has vowed to hunt down the “traitors” behind the protests and a corruption scandal that emerged just over six months later. He has cast both incidents as an orchestrated bid to topple him.

The trial began two days after Turkey drew international criticism for the police detention of prominent media figures in what Erdoğan said was a response to “dirty operations” by his political enemies.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]