UEFA cup killings case adjourned

There was also pre-match violence at the Arsenal-Galatasaray UEFA Cup final

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- A Turkish court has adjourned the trial of 20 Turks accused of involvement in the killing of two English football fans.

Leeds United supporters Kevin Speight and Christopher Loftus were stabbed in street fights ahead of a UEFA Cup semi-final match against Turkish side Galatasaray.

The incident in April 2000 led to the 20 being charged with offences ranging from murder to assault.

Six defendants charged with murder face up to 30 imprisonment if convicted.

Presiding Judge Iskender Tepebasi said he was postponing the trial to February 11 to give the absent defendants a final chance to appear in court.

Tepebasi also ruled that a main suspect in the case, Ali Umit Demir, should remain in prison. The other 19 have been given bail pending their trials.

Prosecutors have demanded prison sentences of up to 30 years for Demir and four others accused of killing the English fans.

Fourteen other suspects accused of involvement in the fighting and one who is charged with concealing weapons from police face sentences of up to five years.

At Monday's hearing, prosecuting lawyer Sukru Alpaslan said that "all the defendants be punished," arguing that forensic and video evidence was enough to incriminate them.

But defence lawyer Fuat Akkoyunlu said the police inquiry into the stabbings was flawed.

The shadow of the deaths have hung over matches between English and Turkish clubs.

Galatasaray went on to win the UEFA Cup in 2000 after winning the Leeds clash and going on to beat another English club, Arsenal, in the final.

Three fans were stabbed ahead of the final played in Copenhagen, Denmark.