Trial begins against Istanbul nightclub gunman, dozens of other suspects

An Uzbek citizen who confessed to killing 39 people at an Istanbul nightclub in a New Year gun attack claimed by Daesh goes on trial in Istanbul on Monday.

The Turkish authorities detained Abdulgadir Masharipov who used Daesh codename Abu Mohammed Horasani in the residential Istanbul neighbourhood of Esenyurt after a 17-day manhunt that involved 2,000 police who watched 7,200 hours of video footage.

Masharipov faces 40 life sentences, one for each of the victims and the massacre itself, when the trial gets under way at the Silivri prison complex outside the centre of Istanbul.

A total of 57 suspects are due to go on trial, including Masharipov's wife Zarina Nurullayeva who is a suspected accomplice and risks similar penalties to her husband. All but six are being held in custody.

Masharipov was captured alive in a massive police operation and analysts say his evidence in confessions have helped Turkish authorities break up the elaborate network of militants cells in the city.

He is facing charges ranging from "attempting to destroy constitutional order", "membership of an armed terrorist organisation," to "murdering more than one person."

'Russian militant gave orders' 

After taking a taxi to the elite waterside Reina nightclub on the shores of the Bosphorus, Masharipov shot dead the security guard before marching inside and firing indiscriminately with his AK-47 at the terrified revellers and setting off grenades.

With survivors even jumping into the Bosphorus in panic, Masharipov, 34 at the time of the attack, slipped away from the scene as he merged into the crowds, triggering fears he could strike again.

Daesh, which at the time controlled swathes of Turkey's neighbours, Iraq and Syria, later claimed the attack. It remains the only time it has issued an unequivocal claim for an attack in Turkey.

Turkish authorities said Masharipov trained in Afghanistan and he confessed to carrying out the attack after receiving orders from the headquarters of Daesh in the Syrian city of Raqqa.

According to the indictment, the order for the attack was given by a senior Russian Syria-based Daesh militant named Islam Atabiev – codenamed Abu Jihad.

Of the 39 killed in the Reina attack, 27 were foreigners including citizens from Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Iraq and Morocco who had gone to the club to celebrate New Year. According to the indictment, 79 people were wounded.