A Belgian appeals court acquitted seven far-leftist Turkish militants of charges of belonging to a terrorist organization, and gave three of the acquitted a suspended sentence for illegal arms possession. The ruling came in a retrial that was ordered after the first trial was declared unfair for technical reasons. Their arrest followed the discovery of an arms cache on the Belgian coast; however, the judge ruled that the group had no intention of committing terrorist acts in Belgium. Dozens of Turkish supporters applauded and cheered upon the reading of the verdict.
