ISTANBUL, Turkey — Authorities in Turkey recently arrested five Muslim nationalists convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the torture and murder of three Christians in southeast Turkey in 2007. The advocacy group Middle East Concern (MEC) confirmed the news Sept. 30.
“Citing fears that the perpetrators may flee Turkey, the prosecutor, Burhanettin Olgun, requested their arrest, and on the evening of Sept. 29 they were arrested,” according to a MEC press statement.
The Malatya First Heavy Penal Court on Sept. 28 found Salih Gurler, Cuma Ozdemir, Abuzer Yildirim, Hamit Ceker and Emre Gunaydin guilty on three counts each of premeditated murder and sentenced them all to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Despite the conviction and sentencing, all five had walked out of court free men while their case awaited higher legal review, infuriating Turkish Christians.
On April 18, 2007, in the office of the Zirve Publishing House in Malatya in southeastern Turkey, the five men killed Ugur Yüksel and Necati Aydin, both Turkish converts from Islam, and Tilmann Geske, a German national.
Police arrested the five men almost immediately after the crime was reported. (MS)
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