Oktay Aydın, a former vice president of the now-closed Association for the Union of Judges and Prosecutors (YARSAV) who also served as a Council of State judge, was sentenced on Thursday to 10 years in prison for membership in the faith-based Gülen movement, the Anadolu news agency reported.
The court also ruled for a continuation of Aydın’s imprisonment while the verdict is appealed in a higher court.
Turkey accuses the Gülen movement of orchestrating a 2016 coup attempt, although it strongly denies any involvement.
YARSAV, a prestigious union for members of the Turkish judiciary, was dissolved by the Turkish government after the coup.
Meanwhile former Court of Cassation judges Mahmut Şen and Hüseyin Sarıömeroğlu were also convicted by Turkish courts with being a Gülen movement member. They received jail time of 13,5 and 10 years, respectively.
Over half a million people have been the subjects of prosecution on allegations of Gülen movement affiliation since the abortive putsch.
More than 4,000 judges and prosecutors were dismissed by the government and hundreds of them were imprisoned.
YARSAV’s former president, Murat Arslan, who was awarded the 2017 Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize by the Council of Europe, was also sentenced to 10 years over Gülen links.