Arrested ISIL suspect was preparing for attack like Istanbul’s Reina nightclub attack: Indictment

ISTANBUL

An arrested Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) suspect was preparing an attack like the attack on the Reina nightclub in Istanbul that killed 39 people and wounded many others, according to the indictment completed on May 9, Doğan News Agency reported on May 10.

The indictment stated that Celil Çelik, an ISIL suspect who was detained as part of the investigation into the Reina attack, was preparing another attack the one staged on New Year’s Eve by Abdulkadir Masharipov, the attacker of Reina nightclub.

Çelik, 54, was caught in Istanbul’s Kağıthane district but four other suspects who were living with him managed to escape, according to the indictment.

“He is a Daesh member who has a similar potential of carrying out an attack like the suspect Abdulkadir Masharipov, codenamed ‘Abu Mohammad al-Horasani,’ and conducting an activity with him,” stated the indictment prepared by the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office.

Four other suspects living in the same house as Çelik escaped from the back window of the building during the raid in Kağıthane on Feb. 22, stated the indictment.

Two Kalashnikovs, at least 500 bullets, and a number of digital documents were also seized in the search after the raid, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors demand up to 15 years in jail on charges of “attempting to abolish the constitutional order” and “being a member of a terrorist organization” in the indictment. 

In the investigation into Uzbek-origin Masharipov, 34, an Istanbul prosecutor demanded 40 aggravated life sentences and at least 1,555 years in jail in the indictment completed on May 9, Doğan News Agency has reported.

The 90-page indictment has been sent to the 27th Heavy Penal Court in Istanbul.