Life sentences for plotters in Turkey’s failed 2016 coup

Police officers and soldiers patrol at the entrance of a courthouse during the trial of 475 defendants, including generals and fighter jet pilots, in Sincan, Ankara, Turkey (AP)

A Turkish court sentenced military and civilian personnel at an air base to life prison sentences, proclaiming them guilty of involvement in a failed coup attempt in 2016, the state-run news agency reported.

A total of 475 defendants, including generals and fighter jet pilots at the Akinci air base, on the outskirts of the capital Ankara, were on trial for the past three years, accused of directing the coup and bombing key government buildings, including a section of the parliament building.