Christians in Turkey request prayer for the review of sentences handed down last year in the trial related to the killing of three Christians in Malatya in 2007.
On Tuesday 18th July a court in Gaziantep reviewed the prison sentences handed down on 28th September 2016. The life sentences for the five perpetrators (caught red-handed at the crime scene) were upheld. However, the court declared that prison sentences for retired Chief of Staff Colonel Mehmet Ulger and Major Haydar Yesil were based on legal inconsistencies and need re-examination. The two officers were believed to have been involved in the planning and preparation for the murders along with many others indicted but later acquitted for lack of evidence.
The prison sentences for the two military personnel were for “violation of confidential communication” and “fraud of official documentation”. In an appeal decision the verdict was declared invalid because of “legal inconsistency in the form of incomplete, non-objective and inadequate grounds for application of the law and legal inconsistency because of the inclusion of missing evidence.”
MAY BE CIRCULATED TO GENERAL MAILING LISTS, OUTSIDE ORGANISATIONS, AND QUOTED FROM FREELY IN REPORTS CITING “MIDDLE EAST CONCERN” AS THE SOURCE OF THE INFORMATION.
Prayer points
Christians in Turkey request prayer that:
a. the motivation and the masterminds behind these murders will be revealed
b. the review process will proceed smoothly, and just verdicts will be upheld
c. the relatives and friends of the victims will know God’s peace as the justice process continues
