The Chief Prosecutor’s Office in the capital Ankara denied media reports that O.Ç., a Belgian-Turkish citizen convicted of killing four people, was released early after he was returned to Turkey to serve his prison term.

Case of O.Ç. dominated the headlines this week after media reports said the convict, sentenced to life in Belgium over killings of four women, including his wife and sister in the city of Gent in 2004, was released from a Turkish prison in 2020. Ç. was transferred to Turkey upon his request to serve the remainder of his prison term. His prison term had started in 2009 and he requested return to Turkey in 2013.

Releasing a statement on Tuesday evening upon outcry on social media on alleged early release for Ç., the prosecutor’s office said he served his sentence in line with Turkish and international laws.

The statement said the convict was subject to a new trial by Fifth High Criminal Court in the capital Ankara, a common procedure for such cases, and was sentenced to four instances of life imprisonment and lower prison terms for his other crimes, including endangering public safety and robbery, in 2012. “Based on regulations that say the sentence for a convict cannot exceed one instance of prison term in the country he was transferred to, O.Ç. was sentenced to life. He would be released from prison in 2015 if he served his sentence there. O.Ç. is given judiciary control in Nov. 10, 2019 and he was released on parole on Nov. 10, 2020,” the statement said. “Execution of the sentence complied with international and domestic legal procedures,” it added.

O.Ç. had begun his crime spree in Gent on Nov. 11, 2004, shooting his 25-year-old wife and pregnant sister first in their home. He then traveled to Aalst, killing his ex-wife and mother-in-law and injuring a Belgian man. He took a driver hostage after hijacking her car as he traveled back to Gent and shot a man he claimed had an affair with his wife. The murders were “honor killing” according to the convict.