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20 YEARS FOR DINK MURDER, 28 YEARS FOR BOOK ABOUT THIS MURDER
/PanARMENIAN.Net/
11.06.2009 15:27 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ More than two years after Agos editor Hrant Dink was
shot dead, a reporter stands trial for writing about the circumstances
surrounding the murder. For his alleged crimes, he faces 28 years
in prison, eight years more than what the murder suspect would serve
if convicted.
Milliyet daily reporter Nedim ªener's book "Dink Murder and
Intelligence Lies" focused on the intelligence deficiencies by
security agencies before and after Dink was shot dead, leading to a
police officer and three senior Police Department intelligence chiefs
filing complaints against him.
Dink, who was prosecuted for insulting Turkishness, was killed in
front of Agos's office. The chief suspect, a teenage nationalist,
is currently on trial along with several alleged accomplices who are
accused of influencing the culprit.
Milliyet daily reported that the complaints have led the Istanbul
Prosecutor's Office to charge ªener with publication of secret
information and turning anti-terrorism officials into targets. The
reporter faces a maximum prison term of 28 years if found guilty.
ªener, speaking to Anatolia news agency on his way to the opening
hearing yesterday, said he is facing a total of 28 years in prison if
convicted in two cases on charges of obtaining classified documents
and insulting government officials.
ªener has two trials pending as a result of the complaints. Yesterday's
trial at the Istanbul Second Court was on violating official
secrets. ªener, who faces up to eight years in jail on this charge,
defended himself by saying that the information in his book was from
phone conversations that were made public on televisions and newspapers
months before his book was printed. "These conversations are also on
the Internet and can be found when one searches Google," he said.
ªener said the trial aimed at preventing the public from learning the
facts about Dink's murder and press freedom. He asked the court to
find him not guilty. The judge decided to postpone the trial to another
date for the defendant's lawyers to prepare for the prosecutor's case.
Milliyet Editor-in-Chief Sedat Ergin told Anatolia news agency his
presence at court was to support not only ªener but also press freedom
in Turkey. "We are showing this solidarity in order to ensure press
freedom in respected," he said. The Turkish Journalists' Association,
or TGC, released a statement on the case, seeing it as "worrying"
and a problem for democracy, Hurriyet Daily News reported.
/PanARMENIAN.Net/
11.06.2009 15:27 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ More than two years after Agos editor Hrant Dink was
shot dead, a reporter stands trial for writing about the circumstances
surrounding the murder. For his alleged crimes, he faces 28 years
in prison, eight years more than what the murder suspect would serve
if convicted.
Milliyet daily reporter Nedim ªener's book "Dink Murder and
Intelligence Lies" focused on the intelligence deficiencies by
security agencies before and after Dink was shot dead, leading to a
police officer and three senior Police Department intelligence chiefs
filing complaints against him.
Dink, who was prosecuted for insulting Turkishness, was killed in
front of Agos's office. The chief suspect, a teenage nationalist,
is currently on trial along with several alleged accomplices who are
accused of influencing the culprit.
Milliyet daily reported that the complaints have led the Istanbul
Prosecutor's Office to charge ªener with publication of secret
information and turning anti-terrorism officials into targets. The
reporter faces a maximum prison term of 28 years if found guilty.
ªener, speaking to Anatolia news agency on his way to the opening
hearing yesterday, said he is facing a total of 28 years in prison if
convicted in two cases on charges of obtaining classified documents
and insulting government officials.
ªener has two trials pending as a result of the complaints. Yesterday's
trial at the Istanbul Second Court was on violating official
secrets. ªener, who faces up to eight years in jail on this charge,
defended himself by saying that the information in his book was from
phone conversations that were made public on televisions and newspapers
months before his book was printed. "These conversations are also on
the Internet and can be found when one searches Google," he said.
ªener said the trial aimed at preventing the public from learning the
facts about Dink's murder and press freedom. He asked the court to
find him not guilty. The judge decided to postpone the trial to another
date for the defendant's lawyers to prepare for the prosecutor's case.
Milliyet Editor-in-Chief Sedat Ergin told Anatolia news agency his
presence at court was to support not only ªener but also press freedom
in Turkey. "We are showing this solidarity in order to ensure press
freedom in respected," he said. The Turkish Journalists' Association,
or TGC, released a statement on the case, seeing it as "worrying"
and a problem for democracy, Hurriyet Daily News reported.