Istanbul nightclub shooter awarded 40 life sentences

A Turkish court on Monday sentenced the main suspect of a mass shooting at an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Day in 2017 to 40 life sentences, reported Xinhua, quoting local media.

Abdulkadir Masharipov, an Uzbek national, was handed down 40 separate aggravated life sentences without parole for deliberate murder and attempting to overthrow the constitutional order, according to the state-run Anadolu agency.

He was also sentenced to a total of 1,368 years in prison for attempting to murder of 79 people who were injured at the attack, it also noted.

Masharipov shot dead 39 people at the Reina nightclub in the Ortakoy district on the European side of the city, where hundreds of people were celebrating the New Year in the early hours of Jan. 1.

The assailant, who was captured at a police operation two weeks after the attack, said he acted on behalf of the Islamic State.

The IS was blamed for a spate of deadly attacks over the years in Turkey, in which more than 300 people were killed.