After being sentenced to life imprisonment, Başbuğ made a statement saying "If in a country, people question the independence of judges, suspect whether the judgements given are in accordance with the Constitution and the law, then one can not claim that there is supremacy of law in that country. For those who have been tried under these circumstances, the final say is the people’s say. And the people are never wrong and are never deceived. Those who have always stood beside the right and righteous people, beside justice, have a clear conscience. I am one of those people."