Three defendants sentenced to double aggravated life imprisonment and 143 years

The 6th hearing of the trial involving 43 defendants—32 of whom were held in custody, including the perpetrators and the mastermind—regarding the armed attack on the Santa Maria Latin Catholic Church on January 28, 2024, was held by the Istanbul 26th High Criminal Court in the courtroom located within the Marmara Penitentiary Institution.

According to a report by Cengiz Anıl Bölükbaş from T24, the court sentenced three defendants to double aggravated life imprisonment and 143 years in prison each in the case concerning the armed attack on the Santa Maria Italian Church. The court also ruled that five other defendants be sentenced to a total of 101 years and 6 months for three different crimes. While 31 defendants were acquitted, the court decided on varying prison terms for the other defendants.

The court sentenced defendants David Tanduev, Amirkon Khaliqov, and Adam Khamirzaev to aggravated life imprisonment for the crimes of "attempting to overthrow the order prescribed by the Constitution of the Republic of Türkiye through force and violence" and "qualified willful murder." Furthermore, the court sentenced these defendants to 143 years in prison each for the crime of "attempted qualified willful murder."

The court also sentenced defendants Shamsullo Radzhaboz, Alisher Rakhimov, Farrukh Soliev, Abdülaziz Abdullaev, and Rasul Akhmadjanov to 15 years for "attempting to overthrow the order prescribed by the Constitution of the Republic of Türkiye through force and violence," 15 years for "aiding in qualified willful murder," and 71 years and 6 months for "aiding in attempted qualified willful murder." Regarding the charge of "membership in an armed terrorist organization," the court ruled that no separate verdict was necessary, as the crime was "absorbed" into the charge of "attempting to overthrow the order prescribed by the Constitution of the Republic of Türkiye" due to the principle of "transitional offenses" (geçitli suç).

The court sentenced defendants İsminali Mirzojonov and Edelkhan İnazhaev to 6 years and 3 months in prison for "membership in an armed terrorist organization."

31 defendants were acquitted.

Background

ISIS had claimed responsibility for the attack at the Santa Maria Church on January 28, 2024, in which a citizen named Tuncer Cihan lost his life.