A Turkish court on Wednesday found 42 former soldiers guilty of trying to kill President Tayyip Erdogan during last year's failed coup, and handed most of them life sentences.
A total of 47 suspects - 37 of them former military personnel - have been on trial since February in the city of Muğla accused of attempted assassination, violation of the constitution and other crimes against the state during the July 15, 2016, coup attempt. The defendants were accused of using helicopters to attack the hotel in the resort of Marmaris where Erdoğan and his family members were staying, killing two policemen. Erdoğan had left the hotel shortly before it was attacked.
The court sentenced 34 of the accused to "aggravated" life sentences, the harshest punishment possible under Turkish law because it lengthens the minimum sentence required for parole. Another six defendants were given life terms while two others were given lesser sentences.
They include former brigadier general Gökhan Şahin Sönmezateş who was accused of directing the plot. Former elite commando Zekeriya Kuzu, who was famously found hiding in a cave four days after the failed coup, also received a life term. Another key figure in the trial, Erdoğan's former military aide-de-camp Ali Yazıcı, was sentenced to 18 years in jail.
One, former lieutenant colonel Hüseyin Yılmaz was acquitted and another was transferred to another court. No verdict was given for three who were tried in absentia, including U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen. But the judge separated his case from the trial along with two other suspects.
