New suspect charged over Malatya murders

Agence France Presse

Seven men are already on trial over the killing of German missionary Tilmann Geske and Turkish citizens Necati Aydın and Uğur Yüksel in the offices of a Christian publishing house in Malatya in April 2007.

The new suspect, Varol Bülent Aral, was charged with "being the leader of a terrorist organization" and "the murder of more than one person as part of the organization's activities" after he was named by a defendant as the instigator.

Aral denied he had played a part in the killings when he appeared in court as a witness in October last year.

Five of the defendants went to the publishing house on the pretext of wanting to discuss Christianity and then tied up the men, questioned them about missionary activities and slit their throats.

Geske and Aydın were already dead when police arrived after being alerted by visitors who grew suspicious when nobody answered the door. Yüksel died in hospital.

All the victims were members of the tiny Protestant community in the conservative city.

In the trial that began in November 2007, the prosecutor stated the defendants set up an "armed terrorist organization to forcefully impose their ideological convictions on others."

He has demanded life imprisonment for the five. The two other suspects risk at least a year's imprisonment for aiding the killers.

The murders fueled fear among Turkey's tiny Christian community and raised concern about rising nationalism and hostility toward non-Muslims in Turkey, a mainly Muslim country vying for European Union membership.