The Istanbul Criminal Court will continue hearing the "Ergenekon" case at a court house built inside the Silivri prison complex.

"The court has decided to hear the statements of suspects who are under arrest and who are not under arrest in separate sessions," Koksal Sengun, the head of the court delegation, said.

Sengun also said that the suspects under arrest would make statements first, each defendant would be represented by only three lawyers.

Then, Sengun asked suspects who were not under arrest and their lawyers to leave the court room.

86 defendants including retired Gen. Veli Kucuk, Labor Party (IP) Chairman Dogu Perincek, journalist Ilhan Selcuk and former rector of Istanbul University Kemal Yalcin Alemdaroglu are accused of attempting to remove the Turkish government by force. 46 of the defendants are under arrest.

Defendants Selcuk and IP Deputy Chairman Ferit Ilsever did not attend the hearing due to health problems.

An alleged criminal network that came to be known as "Ergenekon" was revealed after police seized 27 grenades, TNT explosives and fuses in a shanty house in Istanbul on June 12, 2007 and Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation into weapons. Police waged operations in several provinces and detained a number of people, including retired senior army officers, journalists and businessmen,for their alleged involvement in the network. So far, 68 people were arrested in the probe. 46 of them are standing trial now. The remaining will appear in the court later.

The 2,455-page indictment regarding the Ergenekon probe carried out by prosecutors Zekeriya Oz, Mehmet Ali Pekguzel and Nihat Taskin charges 86 people for attempting to overthrow Turkish government.

Prosecutors demanded life-imprisonment for some suspects including Kucuk, Perincek and Alemdaroglu on charges of attempting to overthrow Turkish government by force and inciting murder.


AA