A trial against 86 people accused of plotting to overthrow Turkey's government began chaotically Monday and was immediately adjourned. The judge ordered a pause to decide how to proceed after lawyers protested they could not work properly in the tiny courtroom, packed with supporters of the accused, spectators and an army of journalists. “I have been doing this job for 50 years and never saw such conditions,” one of the lawyers said as others complained they did not have space even to use their laptop computers -- the charge sheet alone is about 2,455 pages long. Another attorney argued that the tiny courtroom in a prison complex in Silivri, a town outside Istanbul, was intended to “prevent us from ensuring properly the rights of the defense.” The case against the so-called Ergenekon group has deepened the rift between supporters of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) and hardline secularists, who see the case as a government-backed campaign to bully opponents. The suspects -- among them prominent figures -- were to answer about 30 separate charges ranging from membership in a terrorist group and instigating an armed uprising against the government to arson and illegal possession of weapons. Among the 86 suspects -- 46 of whom are remanded in custody -- are retired army officers, leftist politicians, journalists, members of secularist associations, academics and underworld figures.
