October 03, 2014, Friday/ 11:50:54/ TODAY'S ZAMAN / ISTANBUL
The İstanbul 15th High Criminal Court has decided to cancel an arrest warrant issued against Pınar Selek, a sociologist and author suspected of helping bomb İstanbul's Spice Bazaar in 1998.
The court also ruled to implement a previous decision made by Turkey's Supreme Court of Appeals to overturn a life sentence that was given to Selek earlier.
Selek had been sentenced to life imprisonment by the İstanbul 12th High Criminal Court in January 2013. The Supreme Court of Appeals then overturned this life sentence.
Her case has been ongoing for over 15 years, and she was acquitted of charges in 2006, 2007 and 2011. But those verdicts were overturned by appeals courts that ordered new trials. The case was complicated by contradictory reports about whether the deadly explosion was caused by a bomb or a gas leak. She was acquitted on Feb. 9, 2011, by the İstanbul 12th High Criminal Court, but this decision was overturned by the 9th Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals in late 2012.
Her retrial began in December 2012. A prosecutor spearheading the investigation into the deadly explosion at the Spice Bazaar demanded life imprisonment for Selek, and the İstanbul 12th High Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Selek, who has stayed out of Turkey to evade the legal proceedings.
Now living in Germany, Selek has been accused of aiding and abetting Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists who allegedly planted a bomb that caused the Spice Bazaar explosion, in which seven people were killed and more than 120 were wounded.
On Friday Selek told a Cihan news agency reporter in Italy that she will think about whether she should return to Turkey. She had traveled to Italy from Germany to attend the Ferrara Festival. “I want to return to Turkey, but I'll decide after talking to my lawyers,” she said. She mentioned that she is still concerned and is hoping for another acquittal. “We want an acquittal, and that hasn't come out yet as a final verdict,” she said.
She said the past 16 years have been very difficult for her and that she has devoted most of this time to her studies.
Source: http://www.todayszaman.com/latest-news_arrest-warrant-for-sociologist-pinar-selek-lifted-by-court_360605.html