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Turkish prosecutor seeks maximum sentence for stabbing suspects |
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April 15, 2000
ANKARA, APR 14 (AP) - Four Turks were formally charged Friday with the stabbing deaths of two Leeds United fans and aprosecutor said he would seek the maximum 30-year prison terms for the suspects.
Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight were killed in violent street clashes in downtown Istanbul last week, the night before Leeds United played Turkey's Galatasaray in a UEFA cup game.
Prosecutor Osman Ikizoglu, who indicted the suspects, told TheAssociated Press by telephone that he would call for two 30-year terms that would run consecutively because there were two killings.
But he also said that the possible prison terms should be commuted by one-quarter, saying that the Turkish youths were provoked by theLeeds fans.
According to the indictment, the Britons smashed car and shop windows in downtown Istanbul, and at least one of them rubbed his genitals with the Turkish flag.
"When we saw the incidents, we went to buy knives," the indictment quoted suspect Ali Umit Demir as saying. "I saw my uncle was injured in the leg. Then I stabbed the Briton standing next to him in the leg."
Demir and three other Turks were charged with murder.
The prosecutor said he expected a trial date would be set within 45 days.
The prosecutor said he would seek jail terms of two to five years for four others implicated in the attacks. Another suspect faces between two to four years in jail for hiding a knife used in the attacks.
Nine others were to stand trial for taking part in the street fighting, facing a maximum six months in jail.
Six other British fans were also injured in the street clashes.
UEFA on Friday barred Galatasaray fans from traveling to next week's UEFA Cup semifinal second leg in Leeds. Only 80 VIPs will beallowed to attend, said a UEFA spokeswoman in Nyon, Switzerland.
Mehmet Cansun, the Galatasaray general secretary, called thedecision unacceptable.
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