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Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Turkey seeks life imprisonment for 4 Israelis in Mavi Marmara incident

From Bloomberg:
A Turkish prosecutor will seek life imprisonment for four Israeli commanders in connection with the 2010 interception of a Gaza-bound ship during which nine Turks were killed, Sabah said.

Gabi Ashkenazi, Israel’s military chief of staff during the May 31, 2010, raid on the Mavi Marmara ship from Turkey that sought to breach the Gaza Strip blockade, and three others will be tried as fugitive defendants, the newspaper reported, citing Istanbul prosecutor Mehmet Akif Ekinci’s indictment.

The 144-page document charges that Israeli officials deliberately killed, wounded and tortured the pro-Palestinian activists who sought to end the embargo, according to Sabah. The prosecution will file the indictment after final approval from a chief attorney, the newspaper reported.
The Sabah article is here. The others named in the indictment are "naval forces commander Eliezer Alfred Maron [sic], (former) air forces intelligence officer Avishay Levi and (former) Israeli intelligence chief Amos Yadlin" who would be arrested if they ever go to Turkey.

The paper adds that such an indictment may cause controversy as it has no precedent, at least vis a vis Israel and Turkey.

The indictment is to be handed down days before the second anniversary of the incident.

(h/t Simone)