Turkish Court Rules To Keep Russian Ambassador's Murder Suspects In Custody - Lawyer

ANKARA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th July, 2019) Ankara's Second Criminal Court for Serious Crimes has ruled to keep the individuals suspected of being involved in the assassination of Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov in custody, a lawyer of one of the defendants told Sputnik.

"The judge has denied the petition of several of the defendants and their lawyers, who requested a change to the preventative measures. All of the detained persons remain in [Turkey's] custody," the lawyer said.

Additionally, the lawyer said that the next court hearing was scheduled for September 6, at which time several witnesses would be questioned.

Karlov was shot by an off-duty Turkish police officer, Mevlut Mert Altintas, at the opening of an art gallery exhibition called "Russia from Kaliningrad to Kamchatka Through the Eyes of a Traveler" in Ankara on December 19, 2016.

The attacker was killed at the scene by the police.

There are total of 28 suspects in the case, including opposition Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, who currently resides in the United States. The indictment says that the assassination of the diplomat was organized by the Gulen movement, which Ankara refers to as the Fethullah Terrorist Organization and accuses of masterminding the failed governmental coup in Turkey in July 2016.

According to the document, Karlov's assassination was a provocation aimed at damaging Russia-Turkey relations.