World Bulletin / News Desk

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has rejected a case filed by a defendant in the Turkish coup plot trial known as Sledgehammer that accused the Turkish court of violating his right to a fair trial, with the court stating that the evidence in the case was concrete and sufficiently persuasive for the detention of the defendant.

In a recent decision, the ECtHR rejected Brig. Gen. Cem Aziz Çakmak's complaint that his detention was illegal and that he was being deprived of a fair trial.

The ruling said the suspect's arrest was based on persuasive, concrete evidence.

This is not the first ECtHR decision to reject the complaints of a Sledgehammer defendant. In May of last year, the court also rejected a complaint by retired Gen. Çetin Doğan that his arrest was illegal. The court said the defendant was deprived of his freedom because he was suspected of leading a military junta believed to have been plotting to overthrow the government. It added that Doğan was alleged to have drawn up the Sledgehammer plot. The court rejected Doğan's complaints of torture, maltreatment, a lengthy detention period and illegal arrest.

An İstanbul court late last year concluded the Sledgehammer case and sentenced three former generals to 20 years in prison on coup charges.

Former 1st Army Commander retired Gen. Doğan, former Air Forces Commander Gen. Halil İbrahim Fırtına and former Naval Forces Commander Adm. Özden Örnek were initially sentenced to life imprisonment, but the court said the three men would only serve 20-year prison sentences because they had been unsuccessful in their bid to topple the government. The court also acquitted 34 officers in the case, which has furthered civilian dominance over the once all-powerful military in Turkey.

The Sledgehammer plot was revealed on Jan. 20, 2010, when the Taraf daily claimed that a group of generals had conspired to overthrow the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government, devising a plot titled the Sledgehammer Security Operation Plan. Among the generals' plans were the bombing the Fatih Mosque, one of İstanbul's biggest, during a busy Friday prayer and other atrocities that would shake public confidence in the government.