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Turkey says Belgium ruling in terrorism case unsatisfactory

25 December 2009 [17:14] - TODAY.AZ
Turkey has said that a Belgian court ruling dismissing terrorism charges against six Turkish suspects was a disappointment.
“This ruling is far from being satisfactory with respect to international cooperation against terrorism and efforts to prevent and punish terrorist organizations,” a Foreign Ministry statement said late on Thursday.

A court in Brussels on Wednesday threw out terrorism charges against six suspected members of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front, or DHKP-C, a leftist Turkish group that is also banned in Europe, on the grounds that the prevailing Belgian law post-dates the offenses.

Three received suspended sentences for belonging to a criminal gang while the remaining three were acquitted completely.

“Even the Belgian press, including state radio and television, has said the verdict and the sentences meted out were insufficient,” the Turkish statement said.

Turkish-Belgian ties have long been complicated by the presence of DHKP-C militants on Belgian soil.

One of the suspects involved in Wednesday's ruling was Fehriye Erdal, a DHKP-C militant wanted in Turkey for triple murder.

Ankara's demands for her extradition were turned down by Brussels, and she disappeared in 2006 while under surveillance by the Belgian interior ministry, triggering Turkish anger.

The DHKP-C is held responsible for a number of attacks in Turkey that have claimed dozens of lives since 1976, including two retired generals and a former justice minister.

/Huriyyet Daily News/
URL: http://www.today.az/news/regions/58605.html

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