Life sentence sought for terror suspect in tycoon's murder
Prosecutors asked for life imprisonment yesterday for İsmail Akkol, a member of terrorist group the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) for his role in the 1996 murder of a Turkish tycoon in Istanbul.
The Istanbul Public Prosecutor's Office asked the court to sentence Akkol to an aggravated life sentence on charges of murdering Özdemir Sabancı, a member of the board of the Sabancı Holding conglomerate.
Akkol is also accused of trying to subvert the Turkish constitution and blocking the work of parliament.
Sabancı was on a 25th floor meeting room of family-owned conglomerate then headed by his brother Sakıp when Akkol and Mustafa Duyar, another militant, entered. Akkol and Duyar are accused of shooting Sabancı, secretary Nilgün Hasefe and company executive Haluk Görgün in the room before fleeing the scene. Fehriye Erdal, another DHKP-C member who is accused of helping the murder suspects to enter the building where she was working as a waiter, was also implicated in the murder. Mustafa Duyar was killed in 1999 during a prison riot though his death has always been treated as "suspicious."
Akkol,45, was captured in February 2016 in a western city where he arrived from Greece with another suspected DHKP-C member, allegedly to carry out an attack.
Fehriye Erdal, meanwhile, was detained in Belgium in 1999 before disappearing in March 2006 after serving only one year. She was sentenced in absentia to 15 years by a Belgian court.
The DHKP-C, although less influential in Turkey than other terrorist organizations like the PKK, still represents a considerable threat to the country with a string of attacks over recent years.
The DHKP-C was founded in 1978 and was most active during the Cold War era. Purportedly supporting a Marxist-Leninist ideology, the group has renewed its attacks in recent years and is listed as a terrorist organization by the EU and the U.S.
However, it enjoys relative freedom in European countries, such as Greece, where DHKP-C militants avoid prosecution by claiming they are politically persecuted in Turkey. Several militants plotting attacks in Turkey were captured after infiltrating the country following their release by Greek courts.
The Istanbul Public Prosecutor's Office asked the court to sentence Akkol to an aggravated life sentence on charges of murdering Özdemir Sabancı, a member of the board of the Sabancı Holding conglomerate.
Akkol is also accused of trying to subvert the Turkish constitution and blocking the work of parliament.
Sabancı was on a 25th floor meeting room of family-owned conglomerate then headed by his brother Sakıp when Akkol and Mustafa Duyar, another militant, entered. Akkol and Duyar are accused of shooting Sabancı, secretary Nilgün Hasefe and company executive Haluk Görgün in the room before fleeing the scene. Fehriye Erdal, another DHKP-C member who is accused of helping the murder suspects to enter the building where she was working as a waiter, was also implicated in the murder. Mustafa Duyar was killed in 1999 during a prison riot though his death has always been treated as "suspicious."
Akkol,45, was captured in February 2016 in a western city where he arrived from Greece with another suspected DHKP-C member, allegedly to carry out an attack.
Fehriye Erdal, meanwhile, was detained in Belgium in 1999 before disappearing in March 2006 after serving only one year. She was sentenced in absentia to 15 years by a Belgian court.
The DHKP-C, although less influential in Turkey than other terrorist organizations like the PKK, still represents a considerable threat to the country with a string of attacks over recent years.
The DHKP-C was founded in 1978 and was most active during the Cold War era. Purportedly supporting a Marxist-Leninist ideology, the group has renewed its attacks in recent years and is listed as a terrorist organization by the EU and the U.S.
However, it enjoys relative freedom in European countries, such as Greece, where DHKP-C militants avoid prosecution by claiming they are politically persecuted in Turkey. Several militants plotting attacks in Turkey were captured after infiltrating the country following their release by Greek courts.
Last Update: March 29, 2017 22:44