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ANKARA: European Court Starts Dink Case Review

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  • ANKARA: European Court Starts Dink Case Review

    EUROPEAN COURT STARTS DINK CASE REVIEW

    Today's Zaman
    June 17 2009
    Turkey

    The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has begun to review the
    case of assassinated Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was
    tried and convicted under Article 301 restricting freedom of speech.

    Dink's lawyers applied to the ECtHR on Jan. 11, 2007, days before his
    murder, arguing that Dink was being tried for "insulting Turkishness"
    and that the reason for his trial was in contravention of the European
    Convention on Human Rights' principles of freedom of speech, fair
    trial and legality of given punishment. They also argued that Dink
    was treated differently because he was Armenian.

    Dink was shot dead outside the offices of the Agos newspaper in
    Ä°stanbul in 2007. One of the family's lawyers, Fethiye Cetin, had
    said that Dink's murder was committed following a long period of
    preparation, stretching as far back as 2004.

    The lawyers for Dink's family had applied to the ECtHR in 2008 and
    again in 2009, arguing the Turkish state did not take precautions
    to prevent Dink's murder. They had first appealed to the Ä°stanbul
    Chief Public Prosecutor's Office regarding seven policemen, including
    former Trabzon police intelligence chief Engin Dinc and former
    counterterrorism team head Yahya Ozturk, claiming that these officers
    had obstructed justice. The Istanbul chief public prosecutor sent the
    appeal to the Trabzon Public Prosecutor's Office, which decided on
    Jan. 10 against opening a court case against the policemen. The lawyers
    appealed the decision to the nearest high criminal court, in Rize, but
    last week the court in Rize also decided not to open a case against
    the policemen. "The suspects did not commit murder by negligence and
    were not aware of the murder plans," the Rize court said.

    The ECtHR asked the Turkish government to provide detailed
    information on the Dink case to address the issue of the alleged
    discriminatory acts. The court will also evaluate the concept of
    "insulting Turkishness."
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