ANKARA — The trial of two retired Turkish generals accused of carrying out a military coup in 1980 resumed Friday with the two defendants still absent because of medical problems, the media reported.

The trial, which opened in Ankara on April 4, was adjourned after three days pending medical reports on the two retired generals, Kenan Evren, 94, and Tahsin Sahinkaya, 86, who are currently undergoing treatment in military hospitals in Ankara.

Earlier, the judges had rejected a demand from plaintiffs that the two defendants be brought to court by force “in a cage or on a stretcher” if necessary.

Media reports said the judges had not yet received the medical reports.

Evren, the leader of the junta who was declared president after the coup, and Sahinkaya, the air force commander at the time, could face life imprisonment if found guilty of committing crimes against the state.

It is the first time that the perpetrators of one of the country’s several military coups have faced justice.

In the absence of the accused, the judges have started to receive testimonies from coup victims who applied to join the trial as civil plaintiffs. Institutions abolished after the coup of September 12, 1980, including government and the parliament, have been recognized as such.

The once-untouchable Turkish army has overthrown civilian governments three times since 1960, and drove an Islamist government out of office in a bloodless coup in 1997.

Fifty people were executed, 600,000 arrested, dozens died of torture and many others went missing after the 1980 coup.

The trial, although welcomed by media and public, is also regarded as part of a power struggle between the army and the government of Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party, which has drastically reduced the military influence over politics in the last decade. — AFP