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FRIENDS OF HRANT DINK ONCE AGAIN PROTEST SLOW PACE OF TRIAL
Today's Zaman
Dec 26 2011
Turkey
A group called Hrant's Friends, including lawmakers and activists,
held another protest before the trial of the slain Hrant Dink, a
Turkish journalist of Armenian origin, on Monday, saying that they
will continue their protest until justice is served.
On Dec. 26, before the 23rd hearing of the murder trial, Gülten Kaya,
wife of artist Ahmet Kaya, who died in exile while he was subject
to hate speech in Turkey, read a statement on behalf of the group,
which gathered in BeÅ~_iktaÅ~_ Square as usual and then walked to
the courthouse.
â~@~\Do not make fun of us. Reply. Where are the murderers? Where did
you hide them? Did you hide them in gendarmerie stations, intelligence
reports, media plazas, Parliament corridors, courthouses, cosmic
rooms? â~@¦ Giving the murderers to us is a step forward. You can
start from there. Moreover, they are so close to us. For Hrant,
for justice,â~@~] she said standing in front of the group, which
included Dink's wife Rakel Dink, Republican People's Party (CHP)
Deputy Chairman Sezgin Tanrıkulu, Peace and Democracy Party (BDP)
deputy Levent Tüzel and Confederation of Revolutionary Workers'
Unions (DİSK) President Tayfun Görgün.
Following the reading of the statement, some members of the group
started to keep guard in front of the courthouse until the hearing
ends.
At the hearing, lawyers read their defense as the public
prosecutor announced in September his opinion on who masterminded
the assassination of Dink. His statement had pleased neither Dink's
lawyers nor Hrant's Friends because even though the prosecution
points to an Ergenekon cell in the Black Sea province of Trabzon,
a significant number of public officials are not cited for their
involvement in the preparation and perpetration of the Dink murder
nor for their efforts to conceal and tamper with evidence afterwards.
Ergenekon is a clandestine underground network accused of creating
chaos and plotting to overthrow the government. The prosecutor also
demanded a life sentence for seven suspects, including key suspects
Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel, on charges of attempting to destroy
the constitutional order.
A majority of the suspects, including the hitman, are from Trabzon,
where the police say they had informed the Ä°stanbul police about
the plot to kill Dink on more than one occasion. The lawyers for the
Dink family said the prosecutor's announcement does not add anything
to the Dink file. The lawyers have long held that individuals who
assumed active roles in the preparation of Dink's murder have remained
untouched only to be affected during the investigation of Ergenekon.
Those people, including Veli Küçük, Kemal Kerinçsiz, Sevgi
Erenerol, Ã~Vzer Yılmaz and Levent Temiz, are accused of a number of
criminal offenses, including setting up, managing and being members
of a terrorist organization, but so far it has not been possible to
question them about Dink's 2007 murder.
The prosecutor in the Dink case had quoted from the indictments of
the Ergenekon, Sledgehammer, Cage and Zirve Publishing House cases
and said that Sledgehammer, a suspected military plot to overthrow
the government, targeted non-Muslims, including Dink.
From: Baghdasarian
Today's Zaman
Dec 26 2011
Turkey
A group called Hrant's Friends, including lawmakers and activists,
held another protest before the trial of the slain Hrant Dink, a
Turkish journalist of Armenian origin, on Monday, saying that they
will continue their protest until justice is served.
On Dec. 26, before the 23rd hearing of the murder trial, Gülten Kaya,
wife of artist Ahmet Kaya, who died in exile while he was subject
to hate speech in Turkey, read a statement on behalf of the group,
which gathered in BeÅ~_iktaÅ~_ Square as usual and then walked to
the courthouse.
â~@~\Do not make fun of us. Reply. Where are the murderers? Where did
you hide them? Did you hide them in gendarmerie stations, intelligence
reports, media plazas, Parliament corridors, courthouses, cosmic
rooms? â~@¦ Giving the murderers to us is a step forward. You can
start from there. Moreover, they are so close to us. For Hrant,
for justice,â~@~] she said standing in front of the group, which
included Dink's wife Rakel Dink, Republican People's Party (CHP)
Deputy Chairman Sezgin Tanrıkulu, Peace and Democracy Party (BDP)
deputy Levent Tüzel and Confederation of Revolutionary Workers'
Unions (DİSK) President Tayfun Görgün.
Following the reading of the statement, some members of the group
started to keep guard in front of the courthouse until the hearing
ends.
At the hearing, lawyers read their defense as the public
prosecutor announced in September his opinion on who masterminded
the assassination of Dink. His statement had pleased neither Dink's
lawyers nor Hrant's Friends because even though the prosecution
points to an Ergenekon cell in the Black Sea province of Trabzon,
a significant number of public officials are not cited for their
involvement in the preparation and perpetration of the Dink murder
nor for their efforts to conceal and tamper with evidence afterwards.
Ergenekon is a clandestine underground network accused of creating
chaos and plotting to overthrow the government. The prosecutor also
demanded a life sentence for seven suspects, including key suspects
Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel, on charges of attempting to destroy
the constitutional order.
A majority of the suspects, including the hitman, are from Trabzon,
where the police say they had informed the Ä°stanbul police about
the plot to kill Dink on more than one occasion. The lawyers for the
Dink family said the prosecutor's announcement does not add anything
to the Dink file. The lawyers have long held that individuals who
assumed active roles in the preparation of Dink's murder have remained
untouched only to be affected during the investigation of Ergenekon.
Those people, including Veli Küçük, Kemal Kerinçsiz, Sevgi
Erenerol, Ã~Vzer Yılmaz and Levent Temiz, are accused of a number of
criminal offenses, including setting up, managing and being members
of a terrorist organization, but so far it has not been possible to
question them about Dink's 2007 murder.
The prosecutor in the Dink case had quoted from the indictments of
the Ergenekon, Sledgehammer, Cage and Zirve Publishing House cases
and said that Sledgehammer, a suspected military plot to overthrow
the government, targeted non-Muslims, including Dink.
From: Baghdasarian