08/03/2014 14:43
Turkish ex-military chief Ilker Basbug freed from jail
A former Turkish army chief who was sentenced to life for his role in a plot to overthrow the government has been freed from prison in Istanbul, the BBC reported.
A local court ordered the release of Gen Ilker Basbug, a day after Turkey's constitutional court overturned his sentence citing a legal technicality.
Gen Basbug, who was in charge of the Turkish military from 2008 to 2010, was sentenced to life in August 2013.
Dozens of people were charged over the alleged plot.
Gen Basbug was found guilty of leading a shadowy network of hard-line nationalists known as Ergenekon.
The group was said to have plotted to topple the current government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AK Party).
But Gen Basbug, who has always denied the charges, walked free on Friday.
Turkey's constitutional court ruled on Thursday that Gen Basbug's imprisonment had violated his rights.
The court trying him had failed to publish a detailed verdict on the case, it said.