Seven defendants released at first hearing of Reina massacre trial

The first interim decision has been passed in the trial in which 57 defendants stand charged, 51 of whom are in detention pending trial including the assailant of Uzbekh origin, Abdulkadir Masharipov, who killed 39 people and injured 79 at the place of entertainment named Reina last New Year’s Eve. The hearing that has been heard since Monday by Istanbul Serious Crime Court No 27 in a courtroom situated opposite Silivri Prison was attended by the defendants who are charged with attempting to overthrow the constitutional order, membership of Islamic State, the murder of 39 people and the attempted murder of 79 people. After all the detained defendants had completed their defences, the hearing prosecutor set out his opinion on the releases he was seeking. 

The hearing prosecutor sought the release of Yasin Mehmet, Mehmet Cumaniyazi, Sabri Benthabet, Ulugbek Khudayberdiev, Abdullah Türkistanlı, Khushnudjon Kurbanov, Miraziz Mirsobitov and Olimjon Akhralov in his opinion. He justified his application for release citing, “The absence of the possibility for the character and nature of the offences with which they are charged to change and of a flight risk in view of their having fixed addresses, and the evidence to a large extent having been gathered.” These persons were accused in the indictment of Islamic State membership and responsibility for homes at which IS militants were sheltered. 

Measures sought from Governate 

Following the prosecutor’s opinion, Reina’s lawyer Aycan Bölükbaşıoğlu said that a petition had been submitted to Istanbul Governate months before the attack asking for security measures to be increased. He noted that, in the aftermath of the attack that took place in January 2016 in Sultanahmet, since Reina was also a touristic venue the risk of attack was high. It appears that the reply came from the Governate two months after the Reina attack. It is noted that, in the reply, a risk report was sent and a list made of what needed to be done at the facility in terms of security measures. 

After the defendants’ lawyers’ applications had been heard, the court took a recess for about two hours. The court announced its decision after the recess and ordered the release of the defendants Celil Çelik, Mehmet Cumaniyazi, Sabri Benthabet, Abdullah Türkistanlı, Khushnudjon Kurbanov, Miraziz Mirsobitov and Muhammed Kerim. The court, ordering that release conditions be applied to the released defendants, ruled that the next session of the hearing be held on the dates of 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 March 2018.

Reina katliamı davasında IŞİD üyeliğinden yargılanan 7 sanık ilk duruşmada tahliye edildi