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AGOS LAWYERS REJECT BIASED COURT
Erol Onderoðlu
BÝA
March 3 2008
Turkey
Lawyers for the Turkish-Armenian Agos newspaper have demanded that
the case against Seropyan and Nalci be heared by a different court,
arguing that the current one "cannot be independent and neutral."
Agos newspaper owner Serkis Seropyan and editor Aris Nalci have
been on trial at the Sisli 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance for
"attempting to influence the judiciary." Now the newspapers' lawyers
have argued that the Sisli court cannot be independent or neutral
and have demanded a different court.
Two judges involved in previous sentence Lawyer Fethiye Cetin said
that judges Metin Aydin and Hakki Yalcinkaya were part of the court
which sentenced former editor-in-chief Arat Dink and Seropyan under
Article 301 in a previous case.
"These two judges are against Nalci and Seropyan...The defendants in
this case do not believe in the neutrality of this court or the judges
Aydin and Yalcinkaya. The judges are not neutral in their perspectives
on the Agos newspaper, its employees or its Armenian employees."
As an example of their bias, Cetin cited the previous sentence handed
out to Arat Dink and Seropyan on 11 July 2007. They were described as
"persons acting to get even with the Turkish Republic...destructive
and aimed at changing national borders...including terrorism...aiming
at geographical changes..."
After the court listened to the demand, it did not withdraw from the
case, so the Chief Public Prosecutor decided to send the file to the
Istanbul Duty Heavy Penal Court for a decision.
Uras: "Discrimination against Agos" Ufuk Uras, MP for Istanbul and
chair of the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ODP), said at the end
of the hearing. "The case is a typical sign of the discrimination
against Agos. They are still defending the bans they have in their
heads. We are in the era of the Turkish Republic, not of the Ottoman
Empire. We have to leave Agos and our Armenian citizens in peace."
Uras said he would take part in a campaign entitled, "Turkey is
looking for judges and prosecutors."
Arat Dink and Serkis Seropyan had been sentenced under Article 301
for republishing Hrant Dink's comments in which he spoke about an
"Armenian genocide. Other newspapers who also reported on Hrant Dink's
utterances were not tried.
Facing 4.5 years imprisonment The current trial was opened when an
article entitled "Intelligent Wood", published on 9 November 2007,
criticised the sentencing of Arat Dink and Seropyan, was said to be
an attempt at influencing the judiciary, a crime defined by Article
288 of the Turkish Penal Code.
The journalists, who have more than 10 lawyers working for their
defense, are facing up to 4.5 years imprisonment.
--Boundary_(ID_XMpcd5or+C5g+AN4bojt OA)--
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Erol Onderoðlu
BÝA
March 3 2008
Turkey
Lawyers for the Turkish-Armenian Agos newspaper have demanded that
the case against Seropyan and Nalci be heared by a different court,
arguing that the current one "cannot be independent and neutral."
Agos newspaper owner Serkis Seropyan and editor Aris Nalci have
been on trial at the Sisli 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance for
"attempting to influence the judiciary." Now the newspapers' lawyers
have argued that the Sisli court cannot be independent or neutral
and have demanded a different court.
Two judges involved in previous sentence Lawyer Fethiye Cetin said
that judges Metin Aydin and Hakki Yalcinkaya were part of the court
which sentenced former editor-in-chief Arat Dink and Seropyan under
Article 301 in a previous case.
"These two judges are against Nalci and Seropyan...The defendants in
this case do not believe in the neutrality of this court or the judges
Aydin and Yalcinkaya. The judges are not neutral in their perspectives
on the Agos newspaper, its employees or its Armenian employees."
As an example of their bias, Cetin cited the previous sentence handed
out to Arat Dink and Seropyan on 11 July 2007. They were described as
"persons acting to get even with the Turkish Republic...destructive
and aimed at changing national borders...including terrorism...aiming
at geographical changes..."
After the court listened to the demand, it did not withdraw from the
case, so the Chief Public Prosecutor decided to send the file to the
Istanbul Duty Heavy Penal Court for a decision.
Uras: "Discrimination against Agos" Ufuk Uras, MP for Istanbul and
chair of the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ODP), said at the end
of the hearing. "The case is a typical sign of the discrimination
against Agos. They are still defending the bans they have in their
heads. We are in the era of the Turkish Republic, not of the Ottoman
Empire. We have to leave Agos and our Armenian citizens in peace."
Uras said he would take part in a campaign entitled, "Turkey is
looking for judges and prosecutors."
Arat Dink and Serkis Seropyan had been sentenced under Article 301
for republishing Hrant Dink's comments in which he spoke about an
"Armenian genocide. Other newspapers who also reported on Hrant Dink's
utterances were not tried.
Facing 4.5 years imprisonment The current trial was opened when an
article entitled "Intelligent Wood", published on 9 November 2007,
criticised the sentencing of Arat Dink and Seropyan, was said to be
an attempt at influencing the judiciary, a crime defined by Article
288 of the Turkish Penal Code.
The journalists, who have more than 10 lawyers working for their
defense, are facing up to 4.5 years imprisonment.
--Boundary_(ID_XMpcd5or+C5g+AN4bojt OA)--
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress