Newsaholic

  Turkey's state-run news agency said that the trial of 36 defendants for a fatal blast in central Istanbul in November had started on Tuesday. On November 13, 2022, an explosion tore through Istanbul's well-known Istiklal Avenue, a bustling avenue packed with stores and restaurants, killing six people, including two children, and critically wounding 99 others. In court for the trial's opening statements were fifteen defendants, including suspected bomber Ahlam Albashir. Participating via video connection from their prisons were an additional 12 defendants. Unknown whereabouts are held for the other nine. A variety of terrorism-related allegations are brought against Albashir. She may receive seven life sentences, in addition to an extra 1,900 to 3,000 years in jail, if found guilty. The presiding judge permitted her to delay her defense until the following session since the indictment was not read to her in her native Arabic. Albashir and a guy named Bilal el-Hacmaus...