A Turkish court on Tuesday sentenced five people to life in jail over the 2016 assassination of the Russian ambassador to Ankara, state broadcaster TRT Haber reported.
Andrei Karlov was shot dead by an off-duty policeman while speaking at an Ankara exhibition opening in December 2016. The gunman shouted "Don't forget Aleppo!" as he opened fire, apparently referring to Russia's involvement in Syria's war. He was shot dead by police at the scene.
TRT said three of the suspects were given two life sentences without parole, while two others received one life sentence each, also without parole.
One of the defendants was an organiser of the attack and another was a former intelligence officer believed to have leaked information about Karlov to the network, it said.
The indictment filed by Turkish prosecutors pointed out that the followers of U.S.-based FETO ringleader Fethullah Gulen was behind the assassination. Gulen, who has lived in the United States since 1999, has been also charged with being the mastermind of the failed July 15 coup attempt in 2016.
In 2018 Turkey indicted 28 people over the killing, naming FETO ringleader Gulen as the prime suspect. The suspects were charged with attempting to "overthrow the constitutional order", membership of a terrorist organization and of premeditated murder.
The cases of Gulen and nine others were being handled separately.
