Stephen Shah Kaczynski, 52, a British national, has been formally charged with being a member of the terrorist organization Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) involved in the killing of a Turkish prosecutor in an Istanbul courthouse last March.

The indictment prepared by an Istanbul prosecutor - and accepted by the court late Wednesday - also charges Kaczynski with "resisting police."

If convicted on both charges, Kaczynski could serve a maximum of 20 years in jail.

Along with Kaczynski - who is in Istanbul's Maltepe prison awaiting trial - 19 other defendants will appear before the Penal Court in the coming days on the same charges.

Kaczynski was taken into custody on April 2 after Istanbul police raided 38 different locations in the city's Okmeydanı district. He was remanded in custody on April 4 by an Istanbul court.

The raid came after a deadly hostage situation in March for which members of the DHKP-C claimed responsibility.

A Turkish prosecutor, Mehmet Selim Kiraz, 46, a father of two, was killed after DHKP-C gunmen gained access to Istanbul's Çağlayan court complex.

The indictment alleges the DHKP-C used the cultural center as a front to recruit new members.

The DHKP-C was founded in 1978. Supporting a Marxist-Leninist ideology, it was mostly active during the Cold War era.

Targeting security officials, high-profile politicians and carrying out suicide bombings, the DHKP-C is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.