A Turkish court decides to arrest four army officers under Ergenekon

Five prosecutors, including Zekeriya Oz, the top prosecutor of the ongoing Ergenekon case, demanded a criminal court in Istanbul to imprison four army officers on charges of being members of the Ergenekon "terrorist organization," the state-run Anatolian Agency reported. Â

 

The court decided to send the four officers to prison, and release two others, the report added.

 

The Ergenekon probe was launched in 2007 after the discovery of hand grenades at a house in Istanbul. Then it was widened to crackdown an "illegal gang" allegedly planning to stage a series of incidents that would eventually provoke a military coup.

 

More than 100 people were detained and around eighty of them were formally charged for "forming a terrorist organization or being a member of a terrorist organization."

 

But the probe became controversial when the first indictment failed to satisfy the expectations of concrete evidence that would match the allegations.

 

The detainments of high-profile opponents of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) have fuelled charges that the ruling party is launching a witch hunt against its opponents.