Anger, pain in Turkiye as 'newborn deaths gang' trial opens

Istanbul: Dozens of suspects went on trial in Istanbul Monday over the deaths of at least 10 babies as part of a vast social security fraud scheme in...

Istanbul: Dozens of suspects went on trial in Istanbul Monday over the deaths of at least 10 babies as part of a vast social security fraud scheme in Turkiye's worst health scandal in years.

As the trial of the so-called "newborn baby gang" opened, the courtroom on the European side of Istanbul was packed with family members and reporters, with 47 suspects due to testify over the coming weeks.

Prosecutors believe a network of private hospital staff, from managers to doctors along with emergency call operators and ambulance drivers, conspired to send healthy babies to certain neonatal care units for financial gain.

Giving the parents false medical grounds, the defendants allegedly kept some of the infants in intensive care needlessly, sometimes for weeks at a time.

Other babies who were in need of specialised care did not receive the treatment they needed, in a scandal which shocked the nation when it was made public last month.