15 Turks face jail in France for financing banned group

PARIS - Agence France-Press

Members of a French special police unit stand in front of a garage entrance, where an anti-terrorist raid was conducted four days ago, in Torcy near Paris October 10, 2012. REUTERS photo

French prosecutors Wednesday sought jail terms of up to eight years in prison against 15 Turkish citizens charged with financing a banned far-left group with links to Kurdish rebels.
 
They called for the eight-year term for the presumed leader of the French wing of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Front (DHKP-C) as well as against the treasurer.
 
They called for lesser terms against the other defendants.
 
Since 1976, the DHKP-C has been blamed for numerous attacks against the Turkish state that have left dozens of people dead, including two retired generals and a former justice minister.
 
The Front is banned in Turkey and figures on the European Union's list of terrorist organisations.
 
Prosecutors also demanding the dissolving of a cultural association which they said served as a front for the DHKP-C's operations in France.
 
The trial is due to end on Thursday.