Turkey: 4 jailed for life over 2016 Istanbul bombing

By Basak Akbulut Yazar and Murat Kaya

ISTANBUL (AA) - A Turkish court sentenced four people to aggravated life imprisonment over the 2016 deadly Daesh/ISIS bombings in Istanbul, security sources said Tuesday.

The convicts -- Atala al-Hasan al-Mayouf, Fawzi Mohamed Ali, Halil Dervis and Ahmed al-Hasan -- got multiple sentences totaling over 328 years in prison.

They were handed 192 years each for helping Nabil Fadli who blew himself up, 128 years for "assisting attempted murder" against 16 people, and eight years and four months for keeping dangerous goods without permission, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Istanbul's 14th High Criminal Court ruled that Abdulrahman Faiz Rasit, who is absconding, was sentenced to six years and three months in prison for "being member of an armed terrorist group." A ban on travel abroad on him was also extended.

The court also extended arrest warrants against fugitives; Rasheed Alabdalah Alagaagan, Mohamed Beraa Taskeia and Luay Taskiah.

Also, 18 defendants were acquitted due to the lack of conclusive and convincing evidence.

On Jan. 12, 2016, Nabil Fadli blew himself up, killing 12 people -- mostly German tourists -- and injuring 16 others in Istanbul's Sultanahmet district on the European side of Istanbul in an attack blamed on Daesh/ISIS.

*Writing by Seda Sevencan