Uğur Avcı, a former Gölbaşı district gendarmerie commander who was released from prison in June after 11 months in pretrial detention on charges of participating in a failed coup attempt last year, was acquitted by a court on Wednesday.
According to the OdaTV website, Capt. Avcı was acquitted during a hearing at the Ankara 16th High Criminal Court on Wednesday.
Avcı was detained 10 days after the failed coup attempt on July 16, 2016 and was released on probation in June.
He was accused of failing to follow orders from the district governor, failing to provide security personnel support for the district’s Türksat building, which was attacked by putschist soldiers on the night of the coup attempt, and failing to inform judicial and administrative authorities about the coup attempt despite the fact that he knew it was ongoing.
Avcı was suspended by a recent Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) decision.
Lt. Col. Gurbet Keskin, the former head of the Adıyaman gendarmerie command’s public security division who was also accused of involvement in the coup attempt, was also acquitted during a hearing in May after serving nine months in pretrial detention.
Turkey survived a military coup attempt on July 15 that killed 249 people and wounded more than a thousand others.
Turkey’s Justice Ministry announced on July 13 that 50,510 people have been arrested and 169,013 have been the subject of legal proceedings on coup charges since the failed coup.
According to a tally by TurkeyPurge.com, over 146,000 people, including some 10,000 soldiers, have been dismissed from government jobs, more than 122,00 detained and almost 57,000 arrested over coup charges.