Indictment approved for 14 over killing of Istanbul prosecutor in hostage siege

ISTANBUL

A Turkish court has approved an indictment of 14 suspects in the high-profile 2015 murder of a prosecutor in Istanbul, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on June 29, citing a judicial source.

Istanbul’s 21st Heavy Penal Court accepted the indictment, which seeks jail terms for the 14 suspects -- nine of whom are still at large -- on charges of attempting to change the constitutional order by force and intentionally killing a person for performing public service.

The suspects are also accused of knowingly and willfully aiding a terrorist group, the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on talking to the media, were quoted as saying.

The trial is set to begin this November, the agency reported.

Mehmet Selim Kiraz was killed in a hostage siege in his office at Istanbul’s Çağlayan Courthouse by two far-left DHKP-C members, who had gained access to the building by posing as lawyers.

After hours of negotiations between Turkish police and the two hostage-takers, Kiraz was shot in the head by his captors and later died.

The Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front, or DHKP-C, is responsible for a number of terror attacks in Turkey including the 2013 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, which left a Turkish security guard killed and a Turkish journalist injured.

The far-left group is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and the European Union.