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Turkish citizen who attempted on life of Heydar Aliyev sentenced to 30 years in jail

30 June 2009 16:13 (UTC +04:00)

Earlier, Bakirkoy 5th Court of Grave Crimes had sentenced Toku to life imprisonment, but later taking into account his behavior during trial he has sentenced to 30 years in jail. Hasan Toku said he would file an appeal against the court decision.
â€œI believe that justice will win. I regret my action. I will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, if my appeal is rejected. I served my punishment in the country, where I committed the crime. I was released under the pardon decree issued by Heydar Aliyev. But the principle of the international law â€œone person can not be judged and punished for one and the same crime twiceâ€ was not taken into account in Turkey. Aliyev pardoned me, but Turkey did not, while even terrorists, members of PKK are pardoned,â€ he said.
40-year old Toku was detained while he was preparing for assassination attempt against Heydar Aliyev on September 30, 1993 in front of the Azerbaijan State Broadcasting Company. He was convicted for 10 years of imprisonment. Toku was released by the decree issued by President Heydar Aliyev on March 13, 2002 after 8.5 years of imprisonment. Toku was detained by Turkish police on his arrival at the Istanbulâ€™s Ataturk airport on March 16 and then was released. In 2006, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek ordered to launch criminal case against him with accusation of â€œassassination attempt against the head of foreign stateâ€. He was convicted by the court for 30 years of imprisonment on June 24, 2009.