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100 acquitted, 64 given life sentences in military academy coup trial

Turkish Military Academy Dean Brigadier General Kerim Acar (C) is seen under custody at Ankara Police Headquarters Counter-Terrorism Branch following the failed coup attempt, in Ankara, Turkey on July 17, 2016. Murat Kula / Anadolu Agency

An Ankara court has ruled for the acquittal of 100 suspects while handing down life sentences to 60 others and aggravated life sentences to four suspects in a trial concerning incidents that took place at the Turkish military academy in Ankara on the night of a failed coup attempt in July 2016.

The trial, which was heard by the Ankara 17th High Criminal Court, was concluded on Wednesday.

Among the 164 suspects indicted, 156 were military cadets while eight were high-ranking officers.

They were facing coup charges as well as attempting to destroy the constitutional order.
Turkey experienced a military coup attempt on July 15, 2016 that killed 249 people and wounded more than a thousand others.

Immediately after the putsch, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government along with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan launched a massive crackdown aimed at punishing the coup plotters, as a result of which more than 50,000 people were jailed on coup charges and 150,000 others were fired from state jobs.

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