Belgian court delays ruling in DHKP/C case
(Today’s Zamam) Contrary to widespread expectations, an appeals court in Brussels on Tuesday postponed its final ruling in the retrial of seven members of an outlawed Turkish terrorist organization and offered defense lawyers the opportunity to prepare new defense arguments in line with changes that were made to Belgian penal laws in the course of the protracted trial process.
Setting Oct. 14 as the date for the new hearing, the Belgian court cited certain amendments to Belgian laws as the reason for allowing defense lawyers to prepare new defense arguments at the upcoming hearing, the Anatolia news agency reported.
The suspects, all members of the terrorist Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C), were acquitted in February 2008 in a highly controversial ruling handed down by an appeals court in Antwerp, which overturned an earlier decision sentencing the suspects to imprisonment. But months later, the Belgian Court of Cassation rejected the acquittal of seven DHKP/C members, paving the way for a retrial. The retrial started in May.
