IBDA-C leader was released after spending 16 years in Bolu F-type prison, says judicial sources
Salih Mirzabeyoglu, the leader of Turkey's Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front, or IBDA-C, was released Tuesday evening, after staying in prison for 16-years.
After Mirzabeyoglu's lawyer's appeal for his retrial, Istanbul's 14th High Criminal Court ruled for the retrial of Salih Izzet Erdis, known as Salih Mirzabeyoglu, considering the period of his detention.
Mirzabeyoglu's retrial decision was arrived at unanimously, due to the discovery of a new witness' account and new evidence. A new judge, assigned to his case, will collect evidence regarding the case and decide whether Mirzabeyoglu will face retrial.
The released leader was greeted by cheering family members and close friends on his release from Bolu F-type prison. The Bolu deputy mayor's official car was assigned to transport him to Istanbul after he delivered a brief speech to journalists that scrambled outside the prison.
Mirzabeyoglu was put behind iron bars after Turkey's February 28 1997 coup, which saw scores of religious people arrested after the then Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan was forced to resign.
He was arrested on December 29,1998 and sentenced to death in April 2001 for "attempting to overthrow Turkey's secular state by force," despite a lack of concrete evidence. His sentence was later changed to life imprisonment after Turkey abolished the death penalty in August 2002.
Hello, the comments you share on our site are a valuable resource for other users. Please respect other users and different opinions. Do not use rude, offensive, derogatory, or discriminatory language.
The floor is all yours.
