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Parliament Committee Confirms Neglect In Dink Murder

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  • Parliament Committee Confirms Neglect In Dink Murder

    PARLIAMENT COMMITTEE CONFIRMS NEGLECT IN DINK MURDER

    armradio.am
    24.07.2008 16:00

    A parliamentary subcommittee investigating the murder of
    Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink confirmed that there was
    negligence and a lack of coordination by both the gendarmerie and
    police, in a report released yesterday, the Turkish Daily News
    reported.

    "Hrant Dink was killed due to negligence of authorities at every
    level in introducing measures to prevent the threat," said the
    committee's long-awaited report, which was presented yesterday in a
    press conference at parliament. Thus, Article 17 of the Constitution
    regulating "right to life" and Article 2 of the European Convention
    on Human Rights were violated due to negligence, the report concluded.

    The chairman of the subcommittee, Mehmet Ocaktan, Justice and
    Development Party, or AKP, Istanbul deputy, said the committee only
    investigates if there is some wrongdoing in the administrative process,
    but they are not responsible for solving the murder.

    Ocaktan declined to respond to questions regarding a recent decision
    by an Istanbul court disallowing any investigation of the police
    officers, including Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah. "Our report does
    not contain allegations against persons. The judicial process is
    going on. At this stage, we do not have the right to ask questions
    on who was accused of what," Ocaktan argued.

    The subcommittee pointed to controversie s related to Dink's
    assassination and argued that intelligence received prior to the
    murder was not taken into consideration despite the seriousness of the
    threats. Trabzon police were accused of sending a document dated Feb.

    17, 2006 that included intelligence on possible effective action
    against the Armenian community and a violent threat against Dink's
    life.

    Noting that there was still an ongoing investigation into the case, the
    sub-committee said it is too early to reach a conclusion about whether
    an effective official investigation has been carried out or not.

    The 180-page report proposed a list of measures to counter
    possible future threats in situations similar to Dink's. "Degree of
    confidentiality and urgency of the documents must be clearly noted. All
    intelligence regardless of the content should be reported and
    inserted to the central data bank. A system to record all supportive
    intelligence sources needs to be established," the report noted.

    The report also underlined that civilian authorities must be notified
    of all intelligence and any activity by security forces in their
    jurisdiction.

    Increasing the number of police officers in Istanbul and granting
    special duty benefits to junior office staff were also among the
    recommendations.
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