Tweet
HRANT DINK TRIALPlaintiff Lawyers Leave Court Room under Protest
BIAnet.org
Sept 20 2011
Turkey
The lawyers of the Dink family left the court room in protest because
the prosecutor was about to present his final plea before all evidence
had been collected. The prosecutor demanded two life sentences and
two acquittals.
I癬_覺l C襤NMEN [email protected] Istanbul - B襤A News Center20
September 2011, Tuesday The 20th hearing of the Hrant Dink murder case
was held before the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court on Monday (19
September). 19 defendants, two of whom are detained, are being tried
in the context of the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink who was gunned down in the middle of the street in Istanbul on
19 January 2007.
The beginning of the hearing was postponed from 10.00 am to 1.00 pm
because Istanbul Public Prosecutor Hikmet Usta had not been able to
finish the final speech of the prosecution on time.
About a hundred people observed the hearing from the visitors'
places in the court room, among them Republican People's Party (CHP)
Istanbul Deputy Sezgin Tanr覺kulu, Peace and Democracy Party (BDP)
Deputy S覺rr覺 Sureyya Onder, writer Adalet Agaoglu and journalists
Oral Cal覺癬_lar and Ufuk Uras.
Key suspect Erhan Tuncel was the only defendant present at the Monday
hearing. The other detained defendant, alleged instigator Yasin Hayal,
did not attend the hearing because he is currently under a three-week
surveillance by the Forensic Medicine Institute in order to check
his mental health.
"No final plea before complete evidence has not been collected" Right
in the beginning of the session Prosecutor Hikmet Usta announced that
he was going to present the final speech of the prosecution.
Thereupon, joint attorney of the Dink family Fethiye Cetin criticized,
"The requested evidence has not been collected yet. The witnesses we
wanted to hear have not given their statements yet. There is still
no reply from the Telecommunication Communication Directory. The
photographs of Osman Hayal were sent but no expert was able to review
them because the camera footage has still not been provided yet. Data
that is going to change the course of procedure of this trial has
not been collected yet. Thus, we do not think it is correct to have
the prosecutor's final opinion presented now".
Prosecutor Usta on the other hand claimed that most of the evidence
had been collected but that it did not yield a result. He said the
final plea was necessary to advance the process at the 20th hearing
of a case that has been pending for five years.
The Dink family lawyers did not agree with the prosecutor's point
of view. "It is impossible for us to remain in this court room under
such circumstances. We will leave you on your own with your injustice"
they declared and left the court room under protest. Together with
the plaintiff lawyers also the trial observers and press members left.
Only defendant Tuncel, the defence lawyers and the court board remained
in the court room.
Attending the coming hearing Lawyer Cetin said in a statement made
outside the court room, "We were not able to document any progress
within five years despite all our efforts. I am sorry to concede
this. We requested some important evidence several times but most
of it was not provided. And today the prosecutor is about to present
his final plea. In other words, the facts behind this murder are not
being investigated. We have very big losses right now. We will get
into a situation where even the features of a terrorist organization
will be discussed. For these reasons we preferred to leave the hearing
instead of listening to the final plea [of the prosecution]. But this
is not our final say. We will attend the coming hearing and present
our final say".
Orhan Dink, brother of the slain journalist, claimed, "This is a
trial that finishes without even answering one single question among a
thousand questions. We gave up a thousand questions and want the answer
to one single question only: Who is protecting the real murderers?"
Prosecutor Usta started to present his 86-page final plea in the
almost empty court room. The prosecution demands life sentences for
detained defendant Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel and the acquittal of
un-detained defendants Osman Hayal, brother of prime suspect Yasin
Hayal, and Co癬_kun 襤gci. (IC/VK)
http://www.bianet.org/english/minorities/132819-plaintiff-lawyers-leave-court-room-under-protest
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
BIAnet.org
Sept 20 2011
Turkey
The lawyers of the Dink family left the court room in protest because
the prosecutor was about to present his final plea before all evidence
had been collected. The prosecutor demanded two life sentences and
two acquittals.
I癬_覺l C襤NMEN [email protected] Istanbul - B襤A News Center20
September 2011, Tuesday The 20th hearing of the Hrant Dink murder case
was held before the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court on Monday (19
September). 19 defendants, two of whom are detained, are being tried
in the context of the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink who was gunned down in the middle of the street in Istanbul on
19 January 2007.
The beginning of the hearing was postponed from 10.00 am to 1.00 pm
because Istanbul Public Prosecutor Hikmet Usta had not been able to
finish the final speech of the prosecution on time.
About a hundred people observed the hearing from the visitors'
places in the court room, among them Republican People's Party (CHP)
Istanbul Deputy Sezgin Tanr覺kulu, Peace and Democracy Party (BDP)
Deputy S覺rr覺 Sureyya Onder, writer Adalet Agaoglu and journalists
Oral Cal覺癬_lar and Ufuk Uras.
Key suspect Erhan Tuncel was the only defendant present at the Monday
hearing. The other detained defendant, alleged instigator Yasin Hayal,
did not attend the hearing because he is currently under a three-week
surveillance by the Forensic Medicine Institute in order to check
his mental health.
"No final plea before complete evidence has not been collected" Right
in the beginning of the session Prosecutor Hikmet Usta announced that
he was going to present the final speech of the prosecution.
Thereupon, joint attorney of the Dink family Fethiye Cetin criticized,
"The requested evidence has not been collected yet. The witnesses we
wanted to hear have not given their statements yet. There is still
no reply from the Telecommunication Communication Directory. The
photographs of Osman Hayal were sent but no expert was able to review
them because the camera footage has still not been provided yet. Data
that is going to change the course of procedure of this trial has
not been collected yet. Thus, we do not think it is correct to have
the prosecutor's final opinion presented now".
Prosecutor Usta on the other hand claimed that most of the evidence
had been collected but that it did not yield a result. He said the
final plea was necessary to advance the process at the 20th hearing
of a case that has been pending for five years.
The Dink family lawyers did not agree with the prosecutor's point
of view. "It is impossible for us to remain in this court room under
such circumstances. We will leave you on your own with your injustice"
they declared and left the court room under protest. Together with
the plaintiff lawyers also the trial observers and press members left.
Only defendant Tuncel, the defence lawyers and the court board remained
in the court room.
Attending the coming hearing Lawyer Cetin said in a statement made
outside the court room, "We were not able to document any progress
within five years despite all our efforts. I am sorry to concede
this. We requested some important evidence several times but most
of it was not provided. And today the prosecutor is about to present
his final plea. In other words, the facts behind this murder are not
being investigated. We have very big losses right now. We will get
into a situation where even the features of a terrorist organization
will be discussed. For these reasons we preferred to leave the hearing
instead of listening to the final plea [of the prosecution]. But this
is not our final say. We will attend the coming hearing and present
our final say".
Orhan Dink, brother of the slain journalist, claimed, "This is a
trial that finishes without even answering one single question among a
thousand questions. We gave up a thousand questions and want the answer
to one single question only: Who is protecting the real murderers?"
Prosecutor Usta started to present his 86-page final plea in the
almost empty court room. The prosecution demands life sentences for
detained defendant Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel and the acquittal of
un-detained defendants Osman Hayal, brother of prime suspect Yasin
Hayal, and Co癬_kun 襤gci. (IC/VK)
http://www.bianet.org/english/minorities/132819-plaintiff-lawyers-leave-court-room-under-protest
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress