A Turkish court issued a verdict of life imprisonment for a Syrian woman named Ahlam Al-Bashir on Friday, following her conviction in the case of the bombing that occurred in the famous “Independence” street in Istanbul in 2022, resulting in the death of six individuals.
The court, overall, handed down seven life sentences to Ahlam, on charges of “intentional murder due to the bombing” and “disrupting the unity of the state,” as she was accused by the police of planting the bomb in the renowned street in central Istanbul, according to Reuters.
The severe life imprisonment sentences are the harshest penalties available, after Turkey abolished the death penalty in 2002, as it allows no opportunity for parole.
The case also included more than 30 other defendants. Four of them were released, while the court ordered a separate trial for ten defendants who were not found.
Additionally, sentences were issued against twenty defendants for periods ranging from four years to life imprisonment.
Among these twenty, severe life imprisonment sentences were handed down to six individuals on charges of “undermining the unity and safety of the state” and “intentional murder.”
Al-Bashir, who had left the scene after the explosion in a taxi, confessed to having connections with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, banned in Turkey.
Turkey accused Kurdish militants of being responsible for the explosion.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party denied involvement in the attack. No group has claimed responsibility for it.
The bomb, placed inside a bag, exploded in the tourist street of “Independence” near Taksim Square in Istanbul on November 13th last year, resulting in the death of six individuals and injuring around 100 people in the crowded street filled with shoppers and tourists.
