ISTANBUL — Turkish activists blasted an indictment that calls for life sentences for 16 people who allegedly organized protests to save a park nearly six years ago, accusing the government of politicizing the judiciary ahead of elections this month.
A court last week formally accepted the 657-page indictment, which alleges the 2013 protests were an attempt to force President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, then prime minister, to either resign or “prepare the grounds for a civil war or coup.”