ISTANBUL BOMBING TRIAL POSTPONED

UNCLAS ISTANBUL 001495

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREL PTER TU
SUBJECT: ISTANBUL BOMBING TRIAL POSTPONED

REF: A. 05 ISTANBUL 1270


B. 05 ISTANBUL 277

C. 04 ISTANBUL 1828

D. 04 ISTANBUL 1464

E. 04 ISTANBUL 298

F. 03 ISTANBUL 1711

G. 03 ISTANBUL 1703


1. (U) 30 of the 71 defendants in the November 2003 Istanbul
bombings were brought before Istanbul's Heavy Penal Court
(Agir Ceza Mahkemesi) No. 10 for their closing statements on
August 27. Their lawyers reiterated that the attacks were
not targeted at the Turkish Republic but at the US and its
strategic allies. The lawyers also said two suspected
members of the cell, Saadettin Akdas and Burhan Kus, had been
caught and interrogated in Iraq, and asked that their
statements be included in the court file. The court agreed
to ask for the statements from the Interior Ministry, but
refused the defendants' request to be allowed to benefit from
Turkey's recent Repentance Law. The trial was then postponed
to October 10.
JONES