Ankara's Second Serious Crimes Court on Tuesday sentenced five people to life imprisonment in the murder case of Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov, a TASS correspondent reports from the courtroom.
At the same time, the court found Salih Yilmaz guilty of "giving orders" to kill Karlov to killer Mevlut Mert Altintash and sentenced him to two life sentences. The same punishment was given to Sahin Segut, whom the court found to be the "handler of the murderer".
Three other defendants received one life sentence each for their involvement in Karlov's murder.
The court acquitted six of the defendants in the ambassador's murder case, while eight others were sentenced to terms of five to 15 years in prison. As part of the trial, the Court gave separate proceedings for the cases of nine fugitive defendants, including Fethullah Gulen.
The defense of those convicted in the ambassador assassination case intends to appeal the court's verdict. "We do not agree with the court's decision, my client and I intend to appeal the verdict to a higher court, but it could take up to five years," the lawyer of one of the convicts said on condition of anonymity.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Denis Solovykh / TASS
Based on materials from TASS