ISTANBUL - An Istanbul court decided Monday to postpone the trial of 71 people accused of staging November 2003 terrorist attacks in the Turkish capital until the country's new penal code goes into effect on June 1. On the prosecution's advice, judges involved in the case declined to issue summons and recommended that 30 suspects being held until trial remain in custody.
Turkey's new penal code, which passed its parliament in September, should have gone into effect on May 1.
But the government postponed the law's implementation by one month in order to address mounting criticism that its provisions are overly harsh in certain areas, such as with the press.
On November 15 and 20, 2003, car bombs targeting two Istanbul synagogues, the British Consulate and a British bank killed 63 people and wounded hundreds. Two of the accused have said that the group responsible for the attacks was linked to terrorist network Al-Qaeda, and have professed to meeting the organisation's mastermind Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.
Most of the other accused have denied any link with international terrorist groups or participation in the attacks.
The next hearing is set for June 27.
04/11/2005 15:15 GMT