Turkey sentences ISIS gunman in Istanbul Reina nightclub attack to 1,368 years

Turkish court sentences ISIS terrorist to life in prison over New Year’s Eve attack on nightclub that killed 39 people in 2017

Floral tributes and Turkish flags outside the Reina nightclub in Istanbul. AP

A Turkish court on Monday sentenced the ISIS gunman who carried out a New Year’s Eve attack on a nightclub in 2017 to 40 life sentences, with a jail term of 1,368 years.

Uzbekistan national Abdulkadir Masharipov was convicted of membership of a terrorist group, murder and attempting to overthrow the constitutional order, among other charges.

Masharipov killed 39 people and wounded 79.

Local media reported that he was mostly silent during court hearings, but denied the charges against him in his final defence, saying he was not the attacker.

In the early hours of January 1, Masharipov shot his way into Istanbul’s Reina nightclub where hundreds were partying to celebrate the New Year.

He fled the scene and ISIS later said it carried out the massacre.

Revellers jumped into the Bosphorus to escape the attack. Most of the dead were foreigners.

Masharipov was captured in an ISIS hideout in Istanbul weeks after the attack and was among 18 defendants in the case.

The others have evaded justice as fugitives or been released pending trial.