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TOP PROSECUTOR'S NOTICE STARTS NEW STAGE IN DINK MURDER CASE
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-303803-.html
11 January 2013
A protester lights a candle in front of the Agos newspaper office on
Jan. 19, 2007, when Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was killed.
(Photo: Today's Zaman, Kurşat Bayhan)
Public expectations that justice will be served have been raised ever
since the Supreme Court of Appeals' Chief Public Prosecutor's Office
asked the high court to overturn a controversial verdict from last
year that ruled out the involvement of an organized criminal network
in the 2007 murder of Hrant Dink, the late editor-in-chief of the
Turkish-Armenian Agos weekly, ushering in a new phase in the trial.
Bahri Belen, a lawyer representing Dink's family, said there are
organized networks behind all the political murders in Turkey. "In
Turkey, there are serious organizations behind all political murders.
It is impossible for primary or middle school graduates, who have
never been to İstanbul, to organize such vicious crimes. As long as
the real perpetrators of these crimes are not revealed, Turkey will
not achieve democracy," he said.
According to media reports on Jan. 10, The Supreme Court of Appeals'
Chief Public Prosecutor's Office said that Dink was obviously killed
only because he was from a different religion, and his murder was part
of a planned and systematic activity of a criminal network aiming to
damage the state's unity.
"It is obvious that the murder aimed to weaken the state's authority,
to create an environment of chaos and instability by damaging public
order and putting Turkey in a difficult position in the international
arena," it said. Last year, the İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court
had cleared all suspects in the case of being members in a terrorist
organization, infuriating lawyers and many others who say the trial
failed to shed light on alleged connections between the suspects and
state officials.
An İstanbul prosecutor investigating Dink's murder and his family
lawyers had then appealed the court's verdict, saying the murder was
undoubtedly the work of Ergenekon -- a clandestine gang with members
nested within the state hierarchy who are currently on trial for
attempting to overthrow the government by force.
Belen told Today's Zaman that on Thursday, the chief public prosecutor
notified the high court about his opinion about the case and now the
process will continue as the case file will most probably go to the
9th Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals.
"If the chamber finds the prosecutor's argument valid, then it will
overrule the decision of the İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court which
cleared the suspects of organizational membership. In that case, the
İstanbul court will either insist that its original verdict was valid
or agree with the high court on the basis that it has more evidence
or it will collect more evidence," Belen said.
Ozlem Dalkıran, a human rights activist and member of the Helsinki
Citizens' Assembly, said that officials have realized what they have
done wrong and then tried to make a u-turn.
"Although the top prosecutor's opinion is a good first step, we don't
know what the supreme court will say. We have been waiting for this to
happen for five years. What happened in a year to change the course
of events? Personally, I do not hold out much hope for obtaining
justice in this case. I know the murderers; it is the state's duty
to convict them. We have to wait and see what happens," she said.
'Not that much injustice is possible!'
The convicted hit man, Ogun Samast, was captured one day after the
Jan. 19 murder. Other suspects, including Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel,
were captured in the following days on charges of soliciting Samast to
commit Dink's murder. Samast stood trial in a juvenile court because
he was a minor at the time of the murder and he was sentenced to 22
years and 10 months in prison by the court. Hayal, was given life
imprisonment for inciting Samast to commit murder.
Although the Dink family lawyers asked for a merger of related trials,
in a separate trial, two gendarmerie officers were convicted on charges
of "dereliction of duty" in the run-up to the Dink murder. In addition,
Erhan Tuncel, who worked as an informant for the Trabzon Police
Department, was found not guilty of the murder and was acquitted. In
addition to groups inside the police, the gendarmerie is also believed
to have been involved in the Dink killing. Journalist Adem Yavuz
Arslan introduced evidence suggesting Tuncel also had links to the
local gendarmerie units in a book published in 2011. Two gendarmerie
soldiers confessed to knowing about the plot to murder Dink in a
related trial where they were tried on charges of dereliction of duty
by failing to take the necessary measures to prevent the murder.
Ciğdem Mater, a member of Friends of Hrant, said that she was
shocked by the news on Jan. 17 last year when the İstanbul 14th High
Criminal Court cleared all suspects from membership in a terrorist
organization. "After the verdict, Friends of Hrant held a protest
march from the courthouse to Agos. On the way, a friend of mine
called me and said that Erhan Tuncel was released, and I said 'No
way, not that much injustice is possible!' But when we reached Agos,
Tuncel was free!" she said adding that they have been saying for six
years what the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office said on Thursday.
The İstanbul court's verdict was issued last year on Sept. 17, two days
before the fifth anniversary Dink's murder. Large-scale protests in
major cities reflected a combined sense of mourning and anger. Even
Judge Rustem Eryılmaz of the İstanbul court had said, amid growing
outrage at the time, that while he personally cannot deny that the
murder was the work of an organized network, the evidence submitted
to the court was not sufficient to issue such a ruling.
The European Court of Human Rights [ECtHR] ruled in Sept. 2010
that Turkey had failed to investigate and prosecute those who were
responsible for Dink's murder and this constitutes a violation of
Hrant Dink's right to life.
Current Agos Editor-in-Chief Rober Koptaş also deems the top
prosecutor's notice to be a positive development. However, he went on
to say that what is important now is the Supreme Court of Appeals'
final decision. "In parallel with the ECtHR ruling, the Supreme
Court of Appeals' Chief Public Prosecutor's Office points at the
deep structures in the murder and the fact that the murder was poorly
investigated. It will be unacceptable if the Supreme Court of Appeals
issues a ruling that doesn't satisfy the conscience of the public
after the ECtHR ruling and the top prosecutor's notice. If it happens,
it will be nothing but a tragic-comedy," he noted.
The latest outrage for Dink's family and Friends of Hrant has been
the recent election of Mehmet Nihat Omeroğlu, a retired member of the
Supreme Court of Appeals, as Turkey's first chief ombudsman because
Omeroğlu was one of the judges at the Supreme Court of Appeals who
had approved a local court's ruling against Dink related to charges of
"insulting Turkishness" according to Article 301 of the Turkish Penal
Code (TCK), which was later amended.
Omeroğlu was quoted in the Turkish media as saying that he was not
even aware that it was Hrant Dink who was convicted in relation to
Article 301 because the name in his dossier was Fırat, Hrant Dink's
Turkish name.
Dink's brother Hosrof (Orhan) Dink at the time raised concerns and
questioned if Omeroğlu would be engaged in any self-criticism if he
has just become aware of what he had done in the past.
'We are Here Ahparig!'
Meanwhile, Friends of Hrant are saying "We are Here Ahparig!
("ahparig" means "my brother" in Armenian) and are kicking off
a week-long memorial of events ranging from film screenings
to exhibitions, from a symposium to a story-reading and musical
performances starting at Cezayir Meeting Hall on Jan. 12-13 with a
symposium entitled "Hrant Dink Operation: 6 Years."
Mater said that since the Dink case has been complicated, the memorial
events aim at reminding all why Dink was murdered and what it means
to be an Armenian in Turkey. "We would like to share with everyone
why Dink was murdered. In that regard, artists, writers, researchers
and others want to say deliver their contributions. Some will pay
tribute with song, others will deliver their messages by medium of
film and by citing stories," she added.
On Saturday's and Sunday's symposium, the events that took place
before Jan. 19 leading up to the murder of Dink will be remembered and
then the developments over the last six years will be discussed. How
minorities in Turkey have been targeted and the "responsibility of
the majority" will also be debated. Nar Photos exhibition chronicling
the quest of justice since Dink's murder will be open at Cezayir
Hall between Jan. 12-18. Between Jan. 13-18, there will be a number
of performances, story readings, film screenings and talks at the
Tutun Depot.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-303803-.html
11 January 2013
A protester lights a candle in front of the Agos newspaper office on
Jan. 19, 2007, when Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was killed.
(Photo: Today's Zaman, Kurşat Bayhan)
Public expectations that justice will be served have been raised ever
since the Supreme Court of Appeals' Chief Public Prosecutor's Office
asked the high court to overturn a controversial verdict from last
year that ruled out the involvement of an organized criminal network
in the 2007 murder of Hrant Dink, the late editor-in-chief of the
Turkish-Armenian Agos weekly, ushering in a new phase in the trial.
Bahri Belen, a lawyer representing Dink's family, said there are
organized networks behind all the political murders in Turkey. "In
Turkey, there are serious organizations behind all political murders.
It is impossible for primary or middle school graduates, who have
never been to İstanbul, to organize such vicious crimes. As long as
the real perpetrators of these crimes are not revealed, Turkey will
not achieve democracy," he said.
According to media reports on Jan. 10, The Supreme Court of Appeals'
Chief Public Prosecutor's Office said that Dink was obviously killed
only because he was from a different religion, and his murder was part
of a planned and systematic activity of a criminal network aiming to
damage the state's unity.
"It is obvious that the murder aimed to weaken the state's authority,
to create an environment of chaos and instability by damaging public
order and putting Turkey in a difficult position in the international
arena," it said. Last year, the İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court
had cleared all suspects in the case of being members in a terrorist
organization, infuriating lawyers and many others who say the trial
failed to shed light on alleged connections between the suspects and
state officials.
An İstanbul prosecutor investigating Dink's murder and his family
lawyers had then appealed the court's verdict, saying the murder was
undoubtedly the work of Ergenekon -- a clandestine gang with members
nested within the state hierarchy who are currently on trial for
attempting to overthrow the government by force.
Belen told Today's Zaman that on Thursday, the chief public prosecutor
notified the high court about his opinion about the case and now the
process will continue as the case file will most probably go to the
9th Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals.
"If the chamber finds the prosecutor's argument valid, then it will
overrule the decision of the İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court which
cleared the suspects of organizational membership. In that case, the
İstanbul court will either insist that its original verdict was valid
or agree with the high court on the basis that it has more evidence
or it will collect more evidence," Belen said.
Ozlem Dalkıran, a human rights activist and member of the Helsinki
Citizens' Assembly, said that officials have realized what they have
done wrong and then tried to make a u-turn.
"Although the top prosecutor's opinion is a good first step, we don't
know what the supreme court will say. We have been waiting for this to
happen for five years. What happened in a year to change the course
of events? Personally, I do not hold out much hope for obtaining
justice in this case. I know the murderers; it is the state's duty
to convict them. We have to wait and see what happens," she said.
'Not that much injustice is possible!'
The convicted hit man, Ogun Samast, was captured one day after the
Jan. 19 murder. Other suspects, including Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel,
were captured in the following days on charges of soliciting Samast to
commit Dink's murder. Samast stood trial in a juvenile court because
he was a minor at the time of the murder and he was sentenced to 22
years and 10 months in prison by the court. Hayal, was given life
imprisonment for inciting Samast to commit murder.
Although the Dink family lawyers asked for a merger of related trials,
in a separate trial, two gendarmerie officers were convicted on charges
of "dereliction of duty" in the run-up to the Dink murder. In addition,
Erhan Tuncel, who worked as an informant for the Trabzon Police
Department, was found not guilty of the murder and was acquitted. In
addition to groups inside the police, the gendarmerie is also believed
to have been involved in the Dink killing. Journalist Adem Yavuz
Arslan introduced evidence suggesting Tuncel also had links to the
local gendarmerie units in a book published in 2011. Two gendarmerie
soldiers confessed to knowing about the plot to murder Dink in a
related trial where they were tried on charges of dereliction of duty
by failing to take the necessary measures to prevent the murder.
Ciğdem Mater, a member of Friends of Hrant, said that she was
shocked by the news on Jan. 17 last year when the İstanbul 14th High
Criminal Court cleared all suspects from membership in a terrorist
organization. "After the verdict, Friends of Hrant held a protest
march from the courthouse to Agos. On the way, a friend of mine
called me and said that Erhan Tuncel was released, and I said 'No
way, not that much injustice is possible!' But when we reached Agos,
Tuncel was free!" she said adding that they have been saying for six
years what the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office said on Thursday.
The İstanbul court's verdict was issued last year on Sept. 17, two days
before the fifth anniversary Dink's murder. Large-scale protests in
major cities reflected a combined sense of mourning and anger. Even
Judge Rustem Eryılmaz of the İstanbul court had said, amid growing
outrage at the time, that while he personally cannot deny that the
murder was the work of an organized network, the evidence submitted
to the court was not sufficient to issue such a ruling.
The European Court of Human Rights [ECtHR] ruled in Sept. 2010
that Turkey had failed to investigate and prosecute those who were
responsible for Dink's murder and this constitutes a violation of
Hrant Dink's right to life.
Current Agos Editor-in-Chief Rober Koptaş also deems the top
prosecutor's notice to be a positive development. However, he went on
to say that what is important now is the Supreme Court of Appeals'
final decision. "In parallel with the ECtHR ruling, the Supreme
Court of Appeals' Chief Public Prosecutor's Office points at the
deep structures in the murder and the fact that the murder was poorly
investigated. It will be unacceptable if the Supreme Court of Appeals
issues a ruling that doesn't satisfy the conscience of the public
after the ECtHR ruling and the top prosecutor's notice. If it happens,
it will be nothing but a tragic-comedy," he noted.
The latest outrage for Dink's family and Friends of Hrant has been
the recent election of Mehmet Nihat Omeroğlu, a retired member of the
Supreme Court of Appeals, as Turkey's first chief ombudsman because
Omeroğlu was one of the judges at the Supreme Court of Appeals who
had approved a local court's ruling against Dink related to charges of
"insulting Turkishness" according to Article 301 of the Turkish Penal
Code (TCK), which was later amended.
Omeroğlu was quoted in the Turkish media as saying that he was not
even aware that it was Hrant Dink who was convicted in relation to
Article 301 because the name in his dossier was Fırat, Hrant Dink's
Turkish name.
Dink's brother Hosrof (Orhan) Dink at the time raised concerns and
questioned if Omeroğlu would be engaged in any self-criticism if he
has just become aware of what he had done in the past.
'We are Here Ahparig!'
Meanwhile, Friends of Hrant are saying "We are Here Ahparig!
("ahparig" means "my brother" in Armenian) and are kicking off
a week-long memorial of events ranging from film screenings
to exhibitions, from a symposium to a story-reading and musical
performances starting at Cezayir Meeting Hall on Jan. 12-13 with a
symposium entitled "Hrant Dink Operation: 6 Years."
Mater said that since the Dink case has been complicated, the memorial
events aim at reminding all why Dink was murdered and what it means
to be an Armenian in Turkey. "We would like to share with everyone
why Dink was murdered. In that regard, artists, writers, researchers
and others want to say deliver their contributions. Some will pay
tribute with song, others will deliver their messages by medium of
film and by citing stories," she added.
On Saturday's and Sunday's symposium, the events that took place
before Jan. 19 leading up to the murder of Dink will be remembered and
then the developments over the last six years will be discussed. How
minorities in Turkey have been targeted and the "responsibility of
the majority" will also be debated. Nar Photos exhibition chronicling
the quest of justice since Dink's murder will be open at Cezayir
Hall between Jan. 12-18. Between Jan. 13-18, there will be a number
of performances, story readings, film screenings and talks at the
Tutun Depot.