Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

ANKARA: Dink Family Lawyer: Case Far From Granting Justice

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • ANKARA: Dink Family Lawyer: Case Far From Granting Justice

    DINK FAMILY LAWYER: CASE FAR FROM GRANTING JUSTICE

    Today's Zaman
    March 1 2011
    Turkey

    One of the lawyers of Hrant Dink's family has said the family will no
    longer attend the hearings in the trial of Ogun Samast, the hitman
    in the murder of Armenian-Turkish journalist Dink, who was fatally
    shot outside the office of the Agos weekly in 2007, because the case
    is not meeting the demands of justice.

    As Samast appeared in juvenile court yesterday for the first time
    since he was sent to trial in that court, as he was a minor at the
    time of the crime, the Dink family was not present in the courtroom.

    Their lawyer, Fethiye Cetin, told reporters that the family and other
    participants will no longer be present at the hearings.

    "As the case has been far from meeting the demands of justice, it has
    also been [causing] increasing pain and sorrow in society. Therefore,
    our client, the Dink family, and other participants will no longer
    come and watch the hearings," Cetin said.

    Samast's lawyer had referred to the Law of Amendment to the
    Counterterrorism Law (TMK) and asked for his client to be transferred
    to juvenile court. Although Dink family lawyers had expressed that
    Samast should be tried with other suspects in the same court, the
    judge decided that, according to the new TMK, the current court lacks
    subject-matter jurisdiction.

    The Dink family lawyers also said Samast's trial in a different court
    is a small detail because he is the one who pulled the trigger, but
    what is important is to punish those who encouraged him to commit the
    murder and the public officials who protected those people. There is
    a lengthy list of suspicious irregularities in the investigation into
    Dink's murder, including deleted records and hidden files suggestive of
    an attempted police cover-up. The Dink family's lawyers have said much
    of the evidence indicates that the murder could have been prevented.

    Samast said yesterday at his first appearance in juvenile court that
    he will just repeat the testimony that he gave four years ago at
    the 14th High Criminal Court. "My cross examination was also done. I
    don't have anything to add," he said.

    The head of the court referred to Samast as "SSC," which means "child
    who was driven to commit a crime." The court was in recess when this
    paper went to print and judges had decided that they would use voice
    and video recordings at the hearings as much as is possible.




    From: A. Papazian
Working...
X