ISTANBUL
Istanbul public prosecutor Yilmaz Kisti has demanded aggravated life imprisonment for Turkish sociologist Pinar Selek over the deaths of seven people in an explosion in Istanbul 16 years ago.
Selek was first charged and imprisoned in 1998 with responsibility for the explosion, which killed seven people and wounded 127 others at Istanbul's spice bazaar.
Selek spent two years in prison, but was then released when a team of forensic experts concluded the blast at Istanbul’s spice bazaar had been caused by an accidental gas leak. Turkish defense attorney, Akin Atalay, said it has not been proven whether a bomb caused the blast.
Earlier in June, Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals overturned the life sentence which had been imposed on Selek by another Istanbul court because of a detection of a legal error in the original sentencing process.
Selek, who had been accused of making a bomb and aiding a terrorist organization, is currently working in sociological research at the University of Lyon in France. She still hopes to return to Turkey freed of all charges.
Since 1998, she has been tried and acquitted of all charges on three occasions. Her most recent acquittal was amended in November 2012 by an Istanbul court, which sentenced her to life in prison in January 2013.
Her case has attracted a large amount of international attention and at the beginning of her appeal on April 30, a group of supporters from both Turkey and France gathered outside the court holding banners reading "Justice for Pinar Selek!’’
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