The main suspect on trial for a New Year’s Eve attack that left 39 people dead in a popular İstanbul nightclub has denied being the shooter, The Associated Press reported.
Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said Abdulkadir Masharipov on Monday denied all charges against him, including membership in a terrorist group and murder.
On Jan. 1, 2017, an assailant shot his way into Istanbul’s Reina nightclub where hundreds were partying. The assailant escaped and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility. Masharipov was arrested 15 days later.
Speaking in a closed hearing, the Uzbek national said that even though he had admitted the attack in his police statements, he wasn’t the man holding the AK-47.
Fifty-eight suspects, mostly foreigners, are on trial, of whom 39 are in custody.