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THE HRANT DINK CASE SHOULD NOT END THIS WAY
By Joost Lagendijk
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Nov 15 2011
In July 2007 I attended the first session of the trial of the people
who were suspected of killing Hrant Dink in January of that year. I
was there as a friend of Hrant to give moral support to his family
and as a member of the European Parliament to show that Europe cared
about this murder that had shocked so many in Turkey and abroad.
The mood in the packed BeÅ~_iktaÅ~_ courtroom was a mix of sadness and
determination to uncover the full truth about Hrantâ~@~Ys murder. There
was even some optimism that this time around the persons responsible
would not be able to escape justice. Everybody still remembered what
had happened before in the 1980s and 1990s, when several journalists
were killed but none of the cases were solved. Many, including myself,
thought that maybe, hopefully, this trial would be different because
Turkey had changed and there was a government in place that seemed
to be willing to confront past and present brutalities. Hundreds of
thousands of Turkish citizens had shown at Hrantâ~@~Ys funeral that
they were willing to support these efforts to go the extra mile to
bring the guilty ones before court.
Two days ago I was among the few hundred friends of Hrant who gathered
in front of the same BeÅ~_iktaÅ~_ court to protest against the way the
case was handled over the last four years. The mood was a mix of gloom,
anger and outrage about the inability of the judicial authorities
to do what they were expected to do and the unwillingness of the
government to intervene and stop the court messing up this trial.
In the years in between many have tried to convince the prime minister
and other ruling party leaders to step in and prevent the Dink case
from ending up in the same pile of unresolved murders for which
Turkey is so infamous. The Dink family lawyers tabled many requests
to broaden the scope of the investigations beyond the small circle of
nationalist youngsters from Trabzon who were on trial because nobody
believes that they were the ones who masterminded the murder. There
was ample evidence that Ogün Samast, the young guy who pulled the
trigger, and his friends were under the control and surveillance of
Trabzon state officials long before the assassination. Links with the
local police and gendarmerie have been uncovered but these officials
were not investigated. Other law enforcement agents knew that Hrant
was under threat but still did not act. They remained off the hook as
well. State institutions lost proof and evidence of this involvement
but nothing happened.
The latest example of this shameful and criminal negligence is the
unwillingness of the Telecommunications Directorate (TÄ°B) to come
up with crucial records that would help to determine the whereabouts
of several suspects and their accomplices. TÄ°B has been ordered by
the court to provide this information but has refused, so far, to
deliver those records. This clear obstruction of justice is done by an
organization that is under the direct control of the government. Who
is protecting TÄ°B and why?
This is only one of many questions about the responsibility of the
present authorities in Ankara. In a fully functioning democracy where
the rule of law is undisputed one could argue that there is no role
to play, for the executive and court cases should be left to the
judiciary. In Turkey, it is a bad joke to hide behind this legalism.
The Turkish judiciary is neither impartial nor independent. It never
was. As previous governments did, the Justice and Development Party
(AK Party) administration has intervened in the functioning of the
judiciary when it deemed it necessary to push for reforms or to
protect vested interests.
I know it tried in the Dink case to put pressure on certain suspects
behind the scenes. It is sad and worrying to conclude that these
interventions were not successful -- either because the government
did not push hard enough or because it was not courageous enough to
enter into a hazardous confrontation with still existing deep state
structures.
As long as people can get away with murder in Turkey because part of
the state apparatus helps and protects them, and the government is
not able or willing to break that ring of impunity, Turkey will be
unable to convince anybody that it is on the right path to becoming
a true democracy.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
By Joost Lagendijk
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Nov 15 2011
In July 2007 I attended the first session of the trial of the people
who were suspected of killing Hrant Dink in January of that year. I
was there as a friend of Hrant to give moral support to his family
and as a member of the European Parliament to show that Europe cared
about this murder that had shocked so many in Turkey and abroad.
The mood in the packed BeÅ~_iktaÅ~_ courtroom was a mix of sadness and
determination to uncover the full truth about Hrantâ~@~Ys murder. There
was even some optimism that this time around the persons responsible
would not be able to escape justice. Everybody still remembered what
had happened before in the 1980s and 1990s, when several journalists
were killed but none of the cases were solved. Many, including myself,
thought that maybe, hopefully, this trial would be different because
Turkey had changed and there was a government in place that seemed
to be willing to confront past and present brutalities. Hundreds of
thousands of Turkish citizens had shown at Hrantâ~@~Ys funeral that
they were willing to support these efforts to go the extra mile to
bring the guilty ones before court.
Two days ago I was among the few hundred friends of Hrant who gathered
in front of the same BeÅ~_iktaÅ~_ court to protest against the way the
case was handled over the last four years. The mood was a mix of gloom,
anger and outrage about the inability of the judicial authorities
to do what they were expected to do and the unwillingness of the
government to intervene and stop the court messing up this trial.
In the years in between many have tried to convince the prime minister
and other ruling party leaders to step in and prevent the Dink case
from ending up in the same pile of unresolved murders for which
Turkey is so infamous. The Dink family lawyers tabled many requests
to broaden the scope of the investigations beyond the small circle of
nationalist youngsters from Trabzon who were on trial because nobody
believes that they were the ones who masterminded the murder. There
was ample evidence that Ogün Samast, the young guy who pulled the
trigger, and his friends were under the control and surveillance of
Trabzon state officials long before the assassination. Links with the
local police and gendarmerie have been uncovered but these officials
were not investigated. Other law enforcement agents knew that Hrant
was under threat but still did not act. They remained off the hook as
well. State institutions lost proof and evidence of this involvement
but nothing happened.
The latest example of this shameful and criminal negligence is the
unwillingness of the Telecommunications Directorate (TÄ°B) to come
up with crucial records that would help to determine the whereabouts
of several suspects and their accomplices. TÄ°B has been ordered by
the court to provide this information but has refused, so far, to
deliver those records. This clear obstruction of justice is done by an
organization that is under the direct control of the government. Who
is protecting TÄ°B and why?
This is only one of many questions about the responsibility of the
present authorities in Ankara. In a fully functioning democracy where
the rule of law is undisputed one could argue that there is no role
to play, for the executive and court cases should be left to the
judiciary. In Turkey, it is a bad joke to hide behind this legalism.
The Turkish judiciary is neither impartial nor independent. It never
was. As previous governments did, the Justice and Development Party
(AK Party) administration has intervened in the functioning of the
judiciary when it deemed it necessary to push for reforms or to
protect vested interests.
I know it tried in the Dink case to put pressure on certain suspects
behind the scenes. It is sad and worrying to conclude that these
interventions were not successful -- either because the government
did not push hard enough or because it was not courageous enough to
enter into a hazardous confrontation with still existing deep state
structures.
As long as people can get away with murder in Turkey because part of
the state apparatus helps and protects them, and the government is
not able or willing to break that ring of impunity, Turkey will be
unable to convince anybody that it is on the right path to becoming
a true democracy.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress