Turk Convicted Of Hijacking Jet

A Turkish man who hijacked a commercial jet in March to draw attention to Chechnya’s fight for independence from Russia was convicted Monday and sentenced to almost seven years.

Ramazan Aydin, 21, of Duzce, Turkey, used a toy pistol to hijack the plane from Cyprus to Bulgaria and eventually to Munich, Germany. He released the 108 hostages after several hours when police promised to allow him to speak to a reporter for Bavarian radio and meet with an attorney. No one was injured during the March 8 hijacking.