By Sibel Ugurlu
ANKARA (AA) – Four separate courts in Turkey sentenced 23 people on Tuesday for being members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind last year's defeated coup, according to a judicial source.
The 2nd High Criminal Court in the southern Hatay province sentenced a former tax official to seven years and six months in prison for using FETO's encrypted smartphone application ByLock.
In southern Adana province, a high criminal court handed jail terms for up to 12 years to 20 people for using ByLock.
Among the convicts, a FETO member who was responsible for the terrorist group's activities at the Hatay court, received a 12-year jail term.
The court also sentenced a former police chief to seven years and six months in prison and a former chief of public security department was handed down six years and three months in prison.
FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup attempt of July 15, 2016, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.
Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.
