Top Turkish court upholds jail sentences of 32 defendants for 2017 New Year nightclub shooting in Istanbul

Duvar English

The 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation, Turkey’s top appeals court, has upheld the sentences of 32 defendants for the fatal gun attack at an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Day, 2017. The court overturned the verdicts of 13 defendants. 

The court upheld the 40 life sentences without parole and 1368-years prison sentence for Abdulkadir Masharipov, an Uzbek national, for the killings at the Reina nightclub and for violating the constitution.

The court also upheld the convictions of 30 defendants sentenced to prison ranging from six years and three months to 12 years for “membership of an armed terrorist organization” and the conviction of one defendant for “aiding an armed terrorist organization.”

Meanwhile, the court overturned the sentences of 20 years imprisonment given to İlyas Mamasaripov, who was deemed the planner of the attack by the local court, on the charge of “helping to violate the Constitution”; and 1432 years imprisonment given to 39 people on the charges of “aiding to intentional killing” and to 79 people for “aiding to attempted intentional killing.”

The court said that “there is no evidence that (Mamasaripov) was aware of the act, that he helped the defendant Masharipov to escape and hide in order to carry out the act or after the act.” 

The decision ruled that the defendant Mamasharipov should be tried on the charge of “being a member of an armed terrorist organization.”

The court also overturned the sentences of 11 defendants for “being a member of an armed terrorist organization” on the grounds that “there was no conclusive and convincing evidence sufficient for their conviction” and of one defendant on the charge of “being a member of an armed terrorist organization” on the grounds of “excessive sentence determination.”

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack at the time, saying it was an act of revenge for Turkey's military involvement in Syria, and Turkish police said Masharipov had acted on the militant group's behalf.

Masharipov initially admitted guilt for the attack in his statement to police but later pleaded his innocence, disputing the evidence against him and saying he was not the person photographed holding an assault rifle in the club.

The attacker opened fire in the nightclub with an automatic rifle, throwing stun grenades to allow himself to reload and shooting the wounded on the ground. Victims included Turks, Arabs, Canadians and Indians.