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EUROPEAN COURT FINDS TURKISH STATE LIABLE IN MURDER OF JOURNALIST
Monsters and Critics.com
Sept 14 2010
Istanbul - The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said Tuesday it
has ruled that the Turkish state failed to protect the life of Hrant
Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist who was murdered in early 2007.
In a statement released in Strasbourg, the court also said it found
that the Turkish state had failed to protect Dink's freedom of
expression prior to his murder.
Dink had initially filed a case with the ECHR himself, after he was
convicted of 'insulting Turkishness' for a column he wrote in Agos,
the Armenian-Turkish newspaper he edited.
After his murder, the journalist's family launched another case before
the court, accusing Turkish authorities of taking insufficient measures
to protect Dink's life.
The two cases were eventually merged. In its ruling, the court
sentenced the Turkish state to pay 105,000 euros (135,000 dollars)
to Dink's family in compensation and an extra 28,595 euros to the
court for expenditures.
The outspoken Dink was shot three times in the head on the sidewalk
in front of Agos in January 2007. His accused murderer, Ogun Samast,
was 17 years old at the time of the shooting. Samast is currently on
trial for the murder.
The Turkish state has faced criticism that it failed to do enough
to protect Dink, despite repeated threats to his life by ultra
nationalists. There have also been questions about whether certain
members of Turkey's police force played a role in the incident.
Following Samast's arrest, for instance, pictures were leaked to the
press showing members of the police force proudly posing with the
accused murderer.
'This decision should not be the end of the story,' Emma Sinclair-
Webb, a Turkey researcher for Human Rights Watch, told the German
Press Agency dpa.
'The authorities and the court should view this as a push to get to the
bottom of this case, find out who the murderers were and uncover any
possible collusion by elements of the state in the killing,' she added.
From: A. Papazian
Monsters and Critics.com
Sept 14 2010
Istanbul - The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said Tuesday it
has ruled that the Turkish state failed to protect the life of Hrant
Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist who was murdered in early 2007.
In a statement released in Strasbourg, the court also said it found
that the Turkish state had failed to protect Dink's freedom of
expression prior to his murder.
Dink had initially filed a case with the ECHR himself, after he was
convicted of 'insulting Turkishness' for a column he wrote in Agos,
the Armenian-Turkish newspaper he edited.
After his murder, the journalist's family launched another case before
the court, accusing Turkish authorities of taking insufficient measures
to protect Dink's life.
The two cases were eventually merged. In its ruling, the court
sentenced the Turkish state to pay 105,000 euros (135,000 dollars)
to Dink's family in compensation and an extra 28,595 euros to the
court for expenditures.
The outspoken Dink was shot three times in the head on the sidewalk
in front of Agos in January 2007. His accused murderer, Ogun Samast,
was 17 years old at the time of the shooting. Samast is currently on
trial for the murder.
The Turkish state has faced criticism that it failed to do enough
to protect Dink, despite repeated threats to his life by ultra
nationalists. There have also been questions about whether certain
members of Turkey's police force played a role in the incident.
Following Samast's arrest, for instance, pictures were leaked to the
press showing members of the police force proudly posing with the
accused murderer.
'This decision should not be the end of the story,' Emma Sinclair-
Webb, a Turkey researcher for Human Rights Watch, told the German
Press Agency dpa.
'The authorities and the court should view this as a push to get to the
bottom of this case, find out who the murderers were and uncover any
possible collusion by elements of the state in the killing,' she added.
From: A. Papazian