Judgment on Ergenekon conspiracy case today

A Turkish court will pass judgment on nearly 300 defendants accused of plotting to topple the government. The case in the decade-long conflict between Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and Turkey's secularist establishment has exposed deep divisions in Tukish society.

Security forces have set up barricades around the courthouse in the Silivri jail complex, west of Istanbul, to tighten security after the defendants' supporters vowed to hold a demonstration.

Prosecutors say an alleged network of secular arch-nationalists, code-named Ergenekon, pursued extra-judicial killings and bombings in order to trigger a military coup, an example of the anti-democratic forces which Erdogan says his Islamist-rooted AK Party has fought to stamp out.

Ahead of the verdict, state authorities banned protests at the court, and police on Saturday raided offices of a secularist association, political party and television channel, detaining 20 people for calling for demonstrations.

Police sealed off the main road to the courthouse with fencing topped with razor wire and concrete blocks and around 100 people chanted anti-government slogans.

Among the 275 defendants accused in the case are retired armed forces commander Ilker Basbug and other military officers, politicians, academics and journalists. They deny the charges.

The court is expected to begin reading the Ergenekon judgment on Monday morning. Prosecutors have demanded life sentences for 64 of the defendants. Any defendants found guilty were expected to appeal.