Prosecutors have asked for aggravated life sentences for a trio of DAESH militants, who two years ago carried out one of the first attacks on Turkish soil by the terrorist organization.
German national Benjamin Xu, Swiss citizen Çendrim Ramadani and Macedonian national Muhammed Zakiri were captured after they opened fire on security personnel manning a checkpoint in the central city of Niğde on March 20, 2014. A police officer and a military officer were killed in the attack, before the suspects fled the scene by hijacking a truck after killing its driver.
The suspects, who arrived from Syria, were reportedly traveling to the capital of Ankara via taxi when they were stopped at a checkpoint. Eight others were injured in the attack.
The court in Niğde held the seventh hearing in the trial, where eight others linked to the militants are also being tried. The defendants, currently imprisoned in the capital Ankara, did not answer judges' questions posed by video link to the prison. The hearing was postponed to June, to await the translation of the prosecution's final opinion on the defendants.
The prosecutor's office asked for four life sentences for Xu and Ramadani, and one for Zakiri, on charges of terrorism, membership of a terrorist organization, killing of police officers, and illegal possession of firearms.