COURT QUASHES KURD ATTACK VERDICT !
Days of rioting after the attack left four people dead. Turkey's top appeals court has overturned jail terms imposed on two paramilitary officers over a 2005 bomb attack on a former Kurdish guerrilla.
Last July, Ali Kaya and Ozcan Ildeniz were sentenced by a civilian court to nearly 40 years in jail for the attack in Semdinli that killed one man.
But the appeals court overturned the ruling, saying the trial was flawed.
The case is being seen as a key test of whether Turkey can act independently against the powerful security services.
The attack in Semdinli set off days of rioting in the predominantly Kurdish south-east.
Military tribunal
The appeals court in Ankara quashed the verdict on grounds of procedural flaws and an inadequate investigation.
It also said that a military court should hear the case, because the charges related to the army's struggle against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
It was not immediately clear when the new hearing would begin.
Ali Kaya and Ozcan Ildeniz were each sentenced to 39 years and five months by the civilian court in the town of Van for the November 2005 grenade attack on a bookstore that killed one man and injured another.
The bookstore was owned by a former PKK militant suspected of still helping the banned party.
At the time of the attack, the two convicted men were chased and nearly lynched by furious bystanders.
The discovery of weapons and a list of names in their car prompted allegations that they were an undercover execution squad.
The attack triggered days rioting in the region that left four people dead.
More than 30,000 people have been killed in the fighting between PKK guerrillas and Turkish troops, which has been going on for more than two decades.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Last July, Ali Kaya and Ozcan Ildeniz were sentenced by a civilian court to nearly 40 years in jail for the attack in Semdinli that killed one man.
But the appeals court overturned the ruling, saying the trial was flawed.
The case is being seen as a key test of whether Turkey can act independently against the powerful security services.
The attack in Semdinli set off days of rioting in the predominantly Kurdish south-east.
Military tribunal
The appeals court in Ankara quashed the verdict on grounds of procedural flaws and an inadequate investigation.
It also said that a military court should hear the case, because the charges related to the army's struggle against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
It was not immediately clear when the new hearing would begin.
Ali Kaya and Ozcan Ildeniz were each sentenced to 39 years and five months by the civilian court in the town of Van for the November 2005 grenade attack on a bookstore that killed one man and injured another.
The bookstore was owned by a former PKK militant suspected of still helping the banned party.
At the time of the attack, the two convicted men were chased and nearly lynched by furious bystanders.
The discovery of weapons and a list of names in their car prompted allegations that they were an undercover execution squad.
The attack triggered days rioting in the region that left four people dead.
More than 30,000 people have been killed in the fighting between PKK guerrillas and Turkish troops, which has been going on for more than two decades.
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