[Hurriyet Daily News] Two judges under pre-trial arrest for alleged links to a purported illegal organization, which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him...
and his inner circle call the "Fetullahist Terrorist Organization [FTÖ]," will be tried by a court in Istanbul's Bakirköy district.
The two justices Metin Özcelik and Mustafa Baser, who were incarcerated
Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages!
for ruling the release of 76 suspects thought to have links to the so-called FTÖ, will be tried on charges of "attempting to topple the government of the Republic of
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
," "membership of a terrorist organization," "abuse of power on duty," and "violation of privacy." The charges were approved by the Bakirköy 2nd Court for Serious Crimes on Oct. 6.
The FTÖ is a term used by President Erdogan and leading figures from the Justice and Development Party (AKP) to refer to sympathizers of their ally-turned-nemesis, the U.S.-based Islamic holy man Fetullah Gulen.
The indictment claims that Özcelik and Baser are members of the FTÖ and fulfilled the demands of the purported organization.
Both judges were dismissed by the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) on Jul. 14, 2015, months after Baser and Özcelik provided the legal ground for the release of arrested suspects in the case filed against the FTÖ.
The Bakirköy 2nd Court for Serious Crimes has set a 15-day deadline for Baser and Özcelik to submit any information, document or evidence in the case.
The court will then send the indictment to the Supreme Court of Appeals to start their trial.
In late April, Baser and Özcelik issued a ruling to release 75 former coppers and the head of private broadcaster Samanyolu TV Hidayet Karaca, from custody. All 76 were accused of being members of the FTÖ.
The ruling was blocked at the time by a higher court and the two judges were suspended by the HSYK, which said they had "damaged the reputation and influence of the judiciary."
Erdogan and his inner circle have long accused followers of Gulen of forming a "parallel structure" -- state within a state -- to topple the Turkish government, with its purported members working as insiders in the police and other state institutions.