The trial of 69 suspected members of a Turkish al-Qaida cell accused in a string of November suicide bombings in Istanbul opened yesterday with leading suspects taken to an Istanbul courthouse to testify.
The truck bombings targeted two synagogues, the British Consulate and the local headquarters of the London-based HSBC bank. Prosecutors say 61 people, including British Consul-General Roger Short, were killed and more than 600 others injured in the attacks.
In their 128-page indictment, prosecutors are demanding life sentences for five suspects who they said played direct roles in the bombings. Paramilitary police yesterday escorted the five as well as several others to the court, where they were expected to testify.
The other 64 suspects could face prison sentences ranging from 4 to 22 years. Several alleged ringleaders remain at large.
In their indictment, Turkish prosecutors allege that Osama bin Laden suggested targets for an attack and his al-Qaida network provided $150,000 to the Turkish militants who carried out the attacks.
According to the indictment, suspected leader Habib Akdas and cell members Baki Yigit and Adnan Ersoz met on several occasions with Abu Hafs al-Masri, a former bin Laden aide. Al-Masri arranged for Akdas and Yigit to meet with bin Laden in 2001 in Afghanistan.
Yigit said the Turkish cell initially proposed kidnapping members of a pro-Western Turkish business group, but the idea was rejected by bin Laden and al-Masri, the indictment said.
Instead, al-Masri and bin Laden suggested attacks against Incirlik Air Base, used by the US military, as well as against Israeli ships in the southern port of Mersin.
Prosecutors are demanding life sentences for five suspected militants charged with a crime similar to treason.
The other 64 are charged with crimes such as membership in an illegal group or aiding terrorists.
Alleged ringleaders Akdas, Gurcan Bac and Azad Ekinci are at large and are believed to be abroad.
The trial's opening sessions are expected to last to the week's end, and the full trial could last months.
Suspected militants with ties to groups linked to al-Qaida have been tried in several other countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Germany, Italy and Belgium.
VAGUE: The criteria of the amnesty remain unclear, but it would cover political violence from 1999 to today, and those convicted of murder or drug trafficking would not qualify Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodriguez on Friday announced an amnesty bill that could lead to the release of hundreds of prisoners, including opposition leaders, journalists and human rights activists detained for political reasons. The measure had long been sought by the US-backed opposition. It is the latest concession Rodriguez has made since taking the reins of the country on Jan. 3 after the brazen seizure of then-Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. Rodriguez told a gathering of justices, magistrates, ministers, military brass and other government leaders that the ruling party-controlled Venezuelan National Assembly would take up the bill with urgency. Rodriguez also announced the shutdown
Civil society leaders and members of a left-wing coalition yesterday filed impeachment complaints against Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte, restarting a process sidelined by the Supreme Court last year. Both cases accuse Duterte of misusing public funds during her term as education secretary, while one revives allegations that she threatened to assassinate former ally Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The filings come on the same day that a committee in the House of Representatives was to begin hearings into impeachment complaints against Marcos, accused of corruption tied to a spiraling scandal over bogus flood control projects. Under the constitution, an impeachment by the
China executed 11 people linked to Myanmar criminal gangs, including “key members” of telecom scam operations, state media reported yesterday, as Beijing toughens its response to the sprawling, transnational industry. Fraud compounds where scammers lure Internet users into fake romantic relationships and cryptocurrency investments have flourished across Southeast Asia, including in Myanmar. Initially largely targeting Chinese speakers, the criminal groups behind the compounds have expanded operations into multiple languages to steal from victims around the world. Those conducting the scams are sometimes willing con artists, and other times trafficked foreign nationals forced to work. In the past few years, Beijing has stepped up cooperation
Exiled Tibetans began a unique global election yesterday for a government representing a homeland many have never seen, as part of a democratic exercise voters say carries great weight. From red-robed Buddhist monks in the snowy Himalayas, to political exiles in megacities across South Asia, to refugees in Australia, Europe and North America, voting takes place in 27 countries — but not China. “Elections ... show that the struggle for Tibet’s freedom and independence continues from generation to generation,” said candidate Gyaltsen Chokye, 33, who is based in the Indian hill-town of Dharamsala, headquarters of the government-in-exile, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA). It
RSS