Home > Current Affairs News > Footage of the moment Kenan Evren was sentenced has emerged: The 2014 verdict

Footage of the moment Kenan Evren was sentenced has emerged: The 2014 verdict

Footage showing the moment the verdict was announced for former Chief of General Staff Kenan Evren and former Air Force Commander Tahsin Şahinkaya in the trial regarding the September 12, 1980 military coup has been shared again. In the recordings of the June 18, 2014, hearing at the Ankara 10th High Criminal Court, applause can be heard from the audience in the courtroom after the court panel announced its decision.

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The most significant legal obstacle to prosecuting those responsible for the September 12 coup was Article 15 of the 1982 Constitution. The provision, which blocked legal action against members of the National Security Council and certain actions taken during the coup period, was repealed following the constitutional referendum held on September 12, 2010. Following this, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office conducted an investigation based on criminal complaints filed by individuals and organizations from various parts of Turkey.

With the acceptance of the indictment prepared against Kenan Evren and Tahsin Şahinkaya, the trial began in 2012 at the Ankara 12th High Criminal Court. Thus, for the first time in Turkish history, the surviving high-ranking officials responsible for a military coup were brought to trial as defendants on charges related to the coup. Later, following the closure of the Ankara 12th High Criminal Court, the case file was transferred to the Ankara 10th High Criminal Court.

EVREN AND ŞAHİNKAYA ATTENDED HEARINGS REMOTELY

Due to their health conditions, Evren and Şahinkaya did not attend the courtroom, and their statements were taken via the Audio and Video Information System (SEGBİS). The two defendants, who were in the hospital during the final hearing, participated in the trial via video link. During the court process, requests for intervention from individuals who stated they were harmed by the coup, as well as various institutions and organizations, were also evaluated.

COURT ISSUES LIFE SENTENCE

On June 18, 2014, the Ankara 10th High Criminal Court sentenced Evren and Şahinkaya to aggravated life imprisonment for crimes committed against the constitutional order and the Turkish Grand National Assembly under the penal legislation of the time. The court applied discretionary mitigation and commuted the sentences to life imprisonment. The verdict also included a decision to implement provisions regarding the military ranks of the two defendants.

WHY DID THE CONVICTIONS NOT BECOME FINAL?

The verdict rendered by the local court was appealed as part of the ordinary legal process in criminal proceedings. However, Kenan Evren and Tahsin Şahinkaya passed away in 2015 before the review at the Court of Cassation was completed. Due to the personal nature of criminal liability and the fact that a public case cannot be continued in the event of a defendant's death, the case was dismissed. For this reason, the 2014 conviction did not turn into a final criminal sentence.

In subsequent years, the file was evaluated between the local court and the Court of Cassation due to procedural decisions. At the end of the trial, it was decided to drop the public case due to the deaths of the defendants, and it was ruled that there was no basis for the implementation of consequences regarding the seizure of assets or military status. This legal process became one of the important examples showing that a conviction by a court of first instance does not mean the same thing as that decision becoming final.