Prosecutors are seeking prison sentences ranging from seven years to aggravated life for 43 suspects involved in a January attack on the Church of Santa Maria in İstanbul, in an indictment that has been accepted by an İstanbul court, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
On January 28 two masked gunmen affiliated with Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIL) Khorasan Province (ISKP) targeted the Santa Maria Italian church during a Sunday service, resulting in the death of Turkish citizen Tuncer Cihan. The attack marked a significant escalation in the ISKP’s activities in Turkey.
In April Turkish authorities had detained 48 individuals suspected of involvement in the attack.
The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office had previously charged 42 suspects, including Tajik national Amirjon Kholiqov and Russian citizen David Tanduev, with planning the attack. However, initial indictments were returned due to procedural deficiencies.
According to Anadolu, the İstanbul 26th High Criminal Court on Friday accepted the latest indictment that identifies Tuncer Cihan as the victim, with 11 others, including Father Anton Bulai of the Santa Maria Church, listed as complainants.
There are 43 defendants in the indictment, 31 of whom are under pretrial detention.
Suspects Tanduev and Kholiqov, along with Edelkhan Inazhaev and his wife Zharaidat Esmurzieva, who were identified as being connected to them, face two aggravated life sentences in addition to imprisonment ranging from 218 years to 349 years on charges that include “membership in an armed terrorist organization,” “premeditated murder,” the “attempted murder” of 11 people and “illegal possession of weapons.”
The indictment also seeks two aggravated life sentences and up to 345 years in prison for 20 other suspects on similar offenses, while Inazhaev is additionally facing a prison sentence of three to seven years for “forgery of official documents.”
Eighteen suspects face sentences ranging from seven-and-a-half to 15 years solely for “membership in an armed terrorist organization” due to their links to ISIL.
The indictment also seeks an aggravated life sentence in addition to a life sentence plus 349 years for Viskhan Soltamatov, a suspected ISIL militant believed to have orchestrated the attack. The National Intelligence Organization (MİT) confirmed that Soltamatiov, who was detained by Turkish authorities last month, played a key role in planning the assault and was responsible for supplying the weapon used during the attack.
The suspects are expected to stand trial in the coming months, Anadolu said.