Operation Sledgehammer was a high-profile case in Turkey involving 365 defendants, primarily military officers, accused of planning a coup in 2003 to overthrow the government. Perseus Strategies represented 323 convicted current and former military officers.
Detentions began in 2010, with many suspects arrested and held throughout the trial. In 2012, some 300 of the defendants were convicted, with sentences up to 20 years. The case attracted international criticism for alleged procedural violations, including fabricated evidence and coercion of witnesses. On July 22, 2013, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared 250 detentions to be in violation of international law, citing a lack of fair trial guarantees. In 2014, Turkey’s Constitutional Court ruled the defendants’ rights had been violated, leading to their release from prison. By 2015, retrials were conducted, resulting in the acquittal of all defendants due to insufficient evidence and irregularities in the original case.