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Suspected killer of Russian Su-24 bomber pilot released on recognizance

A lawyer says the decision does not mean that charges have been dropped

© Stringer/Getty Images

ANKARA, June 27. /TASS/. A court in the Turkish town of Izmir has released Alparslan Celik, charged with illegal weapons possession, as well as other defendants, on recognizance, Bora Erguden, a lawyer of the defendants, told TASS on Monday. Alparslan Celik is also the alleged killer of the Russian Su-24 bomber pilot in Syria last November.

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"The court has released the defendants. This means that charges against them have not been dropped, but the arrest as a measure of restraint during the court hearings, has been cancelled," he said. According to the lawyer, Celik and other suspects in the case remains defendants and the proceeding continue.

Turkish police detained Celik and another 14 individuals in a restaurant in Izmir on March 30. The authorities confiscated several unlicensed submachine guns, a rifle and several pistols from the suspects. Some had allegedly returned from Syria where they had fought on the side of armed militant groups.

The local media spread Celik’s confession about the murder of the Su-24 pilot, Oleg Peshkov. Later, when in custody, the suspect denied personally shooting down the Russian, saying he had never issued such an order. Subsequently, the Prosecutor’s Office failed to find sufficient grounds to initiate criminal proceedings for that incident.

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