ANKARA (Sputnik) — Ustundag told Sputnik on Monday that a court in the Turkish city of Izmir court sentenced Celik to five years in prison for illegal possession of weapons. The court did not consider the case of Celik's involvement in Oleg Peshkov's murder, the investigation on that case continues.
"We insisted on the acquittal of our client because he did not own the discovered weapons and they did not have his fingerprints. The weapons belonged to Turkmen field commander Osman Salih. We are preparing a cassation appeal that can be considered by a higher court in a period of two to four months," Ustundag said.
On November 24, 2015, a Turkish F-16 fighter jet downed a Russian Su-24 attack aircraft, with two pilots on board, over Syria. Pilot Peshkov managed to eject but was subsequently killed by fire from the ground. Celik initially claimed he had been involved in the murder, but after the arrest, he testified that he had not killed the Russian pilot but had ordered his subordinate militants not to shoot at Peshkov when the pilot bailed out.
Celik and 18 other defendants were also accused of illegal possession and carrying of weapons.
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