Charges on willful homicide have been dropped against Alparslan Çelik , who was detained in Turkey for illegal weapons bearing.

The prosecution dropped the charges against Çelik due to insufficient evidence, DHA Turkish news agency reports. The decision was based on the testimonies of Çelik, according to which he allegedly told his soldiers not to fire at the pilot.

Alparslan Çelik, who killed the pilot of Russia Su-24 fighter jet, was detained in one of the restaurants in Turkey’s Izmir city in March. Çelik had entered the restaurant together with 13 other terrorists.  One of the visitors called the police. The security guards arrived at the scene and detained them. Another lawsuit was instituted against Çelik upon the complaint from the Russian side on charges of killing the pilot of the Russian Su-24 jet. Prior to that, Çelik stated that exactly he had killed the Russian pilot.