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'PUBLIC OFFICIALS' ROLE IN DINK MURDER STILL BEING IGNORED'
Today's Zaman
Sept 20 2011
Turkey
The public prosecutor's announcement on Monday of his opinion on who
masterminded the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink neither pleased 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.
"The prosecution indicates that the murder was committed by an
Ergenekon cell in Trabzon. Where, then, is the Trabzon gendarmerie and
police? Why aren't they being prosecuted? Alright, Yasin and Erhan are
involved in Ergenekon but Ergenekon is not all about them," said Arzu
Becerik, a lawyer for the Dink family, in response to questions from
Today's Zaman. Almost five years after Dink's murder, during the 20th
hearing of the Dink trial at the Ä°stanbul 14th High Criminal Court,
the prosecutor said on Sept. 19 that the murder was the work of the
Trabzon cell of Ergenekon.
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.
"The Dink assassination was the latest assassination of the deep
structures. The suspects acted on ideological motives. The target
was the Turkish Republic and public order. There is suspicion that
the murder is linked to the Ergenekon network. We have reached the
conclusion that the Dink murder was committed by the Trabzon cell of
the Ergenekon terrorist organization," Prosecutor Hikmet Usta said
at the hearing.
A former police informant, Tuncel is believed to have supplied the
hitman with a gun and Hayal is accused of having acted with Tuncel in
masterminding the Dink murder. Among other key suspects is Ogun Samast,
an ultranationalist teenager who gunned Dink down outside his office in
2007. Samast stood trial at the Ä°stanbul 2nd Juvenile Court because
he was a minor at the time of the murder. He was recently sentenced
to 22 years, 10 months in prison by the court.
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 of the Dink family said the prosecutor's announcement
does not add anything to the Dink file. Furthermore, at the court on
Monday, the lawyers came out against the prosecutor's announcement
of his opinion, saying that without obtaining the results of new
investigations it would not be wise to present an announcement
regarding the essence of the case. However, the prosecutor denied
their request and the lawyers left the courtroom in protest.
"First of all, the announcement following the investigation contains
nothing that has been proven even though we have had several requests
to go deeper into the investigation, and our criminal complaints were
not taken into consideration," Becerik said.
She further explained that there is evidence pointing to public
officials' involvement in the assassination. For example, Dink was
threatened by two National Intelligence Organization (MÄ°T) officials
in the office of the governor of Ä°stanbul, as Dink also described
the situation in his articles just prior to his murder.
"Why wasn't the involvement of the former Ä°stanbul police chief
investigated? Why was the involvement of the Ä°stanbul police officers
who are appointed to fight terrorism not investigated? What about
not protecting Dink even though MÄ°T had harshly warned him?" Becerik
asked.
Furthermore, it became known on Feb. 6, 2007 that defendant Tuncel
had informed the police of plans to kill Dink. This Monday Tuncel
shouted at the court, saying he was incited to kill Dink by the same
people who are now blaming Dink's murder on him.
"I will reveal the people who prepared this plot against me," he said
as he was removed from the courtroom by gendarmes for shouting at
Fuat Turgut, a former lawyer for Hayal who is now a suspect in the
Ergenekon case.
All evidence should be considered before prosecutor announces
views According to Fethiye Cetin, who represents the Dink family
at the trial, the prosecutor should have waited for the arrival of
new evidence before making an announcement on Monday regarding the
essence of the case.
"This is what should be done in a legal proceeding and it goes without
saying. First, all of the facts should be presented to the court and
they should be thoroughly evaluated, and then announcements are made
about the essence of the case," she told Today's Zaman.
One of the pieces of evidence the court is waiting for is the
telephone recordings of people who were suspiciously close to the
site of the murder. The 14th High Criminal Court requested the
recordings from the Telecommunications Directorate (TÄ°B) upon a
request by the co-plaintiffs involved in the case. TÄ°B opposed the
decision and submitted a report to the court, saying it would not
release the telephone recordings because that would "interfere in
[the suspects'] private lives" and appealed the decision at a higher
court, requesting it overturn the ruling of the Ä°stanbul 14th High
Criminal Court. TÄ°B's appeal was rejected and it was ordered to send
the recordings to the court. It is important that the court obtains
the recordings because TÄ°B deletes the recordings of telephone
conversations of people every five years. Around five months are left
until recordings made at the time of Dink's murder are deleted.
Cetin also said her team also claimed at the court that one of the
people at the scene of the crime was Hayal, as shown on a video
recordings obtained from shops in the area from the time of the
murder. An expert report has yet to be delivered to the court to
prove or disprove that claim.
In addition, there are more witnesses whose testimonies have not been
heard yet.
"Despite all that, the prosecutor decided to present his views on
the essence of the case. And we are concerned. That is why we left
the courthouse on Monday," she said.
If this is the way the case develops, the file could be closed after a
few more hearings as the court would ask the co-plaintiffs to present
their views on the essence of the case, and then the defendants would
make their defense arguments.
"The court would then issue its ruling. This case should not end
like this."
An appeal to the prime minister While the Dink family lawyers protested
Monday's hearing, the group Hrant's Friends gathered at Dolmabahce
Square and held up placards reading "For Hrant, For Justice."
Pakrat Estukyan, an editor from Dink's Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos,
read the letter that they sent to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The letter stated: "Esteemed Prime Minister, they have killed our
friend, Hrant Dink. Our search for justice has been to no avail now,
five years after his death. The state to whom we sent a petition
seeking justice has sided with the killers. We have complaints
about this."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prosecutor ties some Ergenekon suspects to Dink murder The Dink family
lawyers have long held that individuals who assumed active roles
in the preparation of Dink's murder have long remained untouched,
only to be affected during the investigation of Ergenekon.
Those people, including Veli Kucuk, Kemal Kerincsiz, Sevgi Erenerol,
Ozer 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 murder.
Announcing his views on the essence of the case on Monday, the
prosecutor in the Dink case 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, targets non-Muslims, including Dink.
The prosecutor also stated that Kucuk and Kerincsiz had spoken over
the phone about a lawsuit Dink was involved in prior to his murder.
The prosecutor also stated that former Trabzon Gendarmerie Commander
Col. Ali Oz had received Kucuk in his office, where the two posed for
a photo together. He further stated that Oz had received Ergenekon
suspect Gen. Å~^ener Eruygur as the head of the Ataturkist Thought
Association (ADD). The prosecutor also noted that Kerincsiz and people
from associations such as the Great Jurists Union, the Noel Baba
Foundation and the National Force Platform had protested against Dink
in front of Agos and against an Armenian conference held at Bilgi
University. The people also held protests against novelist Orhan
Pamuk and the patriarchate in front of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate.
The prosecutor stated:
"Because the Ergenekon investigation has not been carried out
effectively and because the public has not been exemplary in the
investigation of deep structures in Turkey, the Trabzon cell's links
to upper level deep structures have not been revealed yet. However,
the investigation is not yet complete. The Ergenekon investigation
started in 2008, about one year after Hrant Dink's assassination,
which has been etched into history as the last assassination of this
terrorist group based in Trabzon."
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-257430-public-officials-role-in-dink-murder-still-being-ignored.html
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Today's Zaman
Sept 20 2011
Turkey
The public prosecutor's announcement on Monday of his opinion on who
masterminded the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink neither pleased 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.
"The prosecution indicates that the murder was committed by an
Ergenekon cell in Trabzon. Where, then, is the Trabzon gendarmerie and
police? Why aren't they being prosecuted? Alright, Yasin and Erhan are
involved in Ergenekon but Ergenekon is not all about them," said Arzu
Becerik, a lawyer for the Dink family, in response to questions from
Today's Zaman. Almost five years after Dink's murder, during the 20th
hearing of the Dink trial at the Ä°stanbul 14th High Criminal Court,
the prosecutor said on Sept. 19 that the murder was the work of the
Trabzon cell of Ergenekon.
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.
"The Dink assassination was the latest assassination of the deep
structures. The suspects acted on ideological motives. The target
was the Turkish Republic and public order. There is suspicion that
the murder is linked to the Ergenekon network. We have reached the
conclusion that the Dink murder was committed by the Trabzon cell of
the Ergenekon terrorist organization," Prosecutor Hikmet Usta said
at the hearing.
A former police informant, Tuncel is believed to have supplied the
hitman with a gun and Hayal is accused of having acted with Tuncel in
masterminding the Dink murder. Among other key suspects is Ogun Samast,
an ultranationalist teenager who gunned Dink down outside his office in
2007. Samast stood trial at the Ä°stanbul 2nd Juvenile Court because
he was a minor at the time of the murder. He was recently sentenced
to 22 years, 10 months in prison by the court.
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 of the Dink family said the prosecutor's announcement
does not add anything to the Dink file. Furthermore, at the court on
Monday, the lawyers came out against the prosecutor's announcement
of his opinion, saying that without obtaining the results of new
investigations it would not be wise to present an announcement
regarding the essence of the case. However, the prosecutor denied
their request and the lawyers left the courtroom in protest.
"First of all, the announcement following the investigation contains
nothing that has been proven even though we have had several requests
to go deeper into the investigation, and our criminal complaints were
not taken into consideration," Becerik said.
She further explained that there is evidence pointing to public
officials' involvement in the assassination. For example, Dink was
threatened by two National Intelligence Organization (MÄ°T) officials
in the office of the governor of Ä°stanbul, as Dink also described
the situation in his articles just prior to his murder.
"Why wasn't the involvement of the former Ä°stanbul police chief
investigated? Why was the involvement of the Ä°stanbul police officers
who are appointed to fight terrorism not investigated? What about
not protecting Dink even though MÄ°T had harshly warned him?" Becerik
asked.
Furthermore, it became known on Feb. 6, 2007 that defendant Tuncel
had informed the police of plans to kill Dink. This Monday Tuncel
shouted at the court, saying he was incited to kill Dink by the same
people who are now blaming Dink's murder on him.
"I will reveal the people who prepared this plot against me," he said
as he was removed from the courtroom by gendarmes for shouting at
Fuat Turgut, a former lawyer for Hayal who is now a suspect in the
Ergenekon case.
All evidence should be considered before prosecutor announces
views According to Fethiye Cetin, who represents the Dink family
at the trial, the prosecutor should have waited for the arrival of
new evidence before making an announcement on Monday regarding the
essence of the case.
"This is what should be done in a legal proceeding and it goes without
saying. First, all of the facts should be presented to the court and
they should be thoroughly evaluated, and then announcements are made
about the essence of the case," she told Today's Zaman.
One of the pieces of evidence the court is waiting for is the
telephone recordings of people who were suspiciously close to the
site of the murder. The 14th High Criminal Court requested the
recordings from the Telecommunications Directorate (TÄ°B) upon a
request by the co-plaintiffs involved in the case. TÄ°B opposed the
decision and submitted a report to the court, saying it would not
release the telephone recordings because that would "interfere in
[the suspects'] private lives" and appealed the decision at a higher
court, requesting it overturn the ruling of the Ä°stanbul 14th High
Criminal Court. TÄ°B's appeal was rejected and it was ordered to send
the recordings to the court. It is important that the court obtains
the recordings because TÄ°B deletes the recordings of telephone
conversations of people every five years. Around five months are left
until recordings made at the time of Dink's murder are deleted.
Cetin also said her team also claimed at the court that one of the
people at the scene of the crime was Hayal, as shown on a video
recordings obtained from shops in the area from the time of the
murder. An expert report has yet to be delivered to the court to
prove or disprove that claim.
In addition, there are more witnesses whose testimonies have not been
heard yet.
"Despite all that, the prosecutor decided to present his views on
the essence of the case. And we are concerned. That is why we left
the courthouse on Monday," she said.
If this is the way the case develops, the file could be closed after a
few more hearings as the court would ask the co-plaintiffs to present
their views on the essence of the case, and then the defendants would
make their defense arguments.
"The court would then issue its ruling. This case should not end
like this."
An appeal to the prime minister While the Dink family lawyers protested
Monday's hearing, the group Hrant's Friends gathered at Dolmabahce
Square and held up placards reading "For Hrant, For Justice."
Pakrat Estukyan, an editor from Dink's Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos,
read the letter that they sent to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The letter stated: "Esteemed Prime Minister, they have killed our
friend, Hrant Dink. Our search for justice has been to no avail now,
five years after his death. The state to whom we sent a petition
seeking justice has sided with the killers. We have complaints
about this."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prosecutor ties some Ergenekon suspects to Dink murder The Dink family
lawyers have long held that individuals who assumed active roles
in the preparation of Dink's murder have long remained untouched,
only to be affected during the investigation of Ergenekon.
Those people, including Veli Kucuk, Kemal Kerincsiz, Sevgi Erenerol,
Ozer 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 murder.
Announcing his views on the essence of the case on Monday, the
prosecutor in the Dink case 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, targets non-Muslims, including Dink.
The prosecutor also stated that Kucuk and Kerincsiz had spoken over
the phone about a lawsuit Dink was involved in prior to his murder.
The prosecutor also stated that former Trabzon Gendarmerie Commander
Col. Ali Oz had received Kucuk in his office, where the two posed for
a photo together. He further stated that Oz had received Ergenekon
suspect Gen. Å~^ener Eruygur as the head of the Ataturkist Thought
Association (ADD). The prosecutor also noted that Kerincsiz and people
from associations such as the Great Jurists Union, the Noel Baba
Foundation and the National Force Platform had protested against Dink
in front of Agos and against an Armenian conference held at Bilgi
University. The people also held protests against novelist Orhan
Pamuk and the patriarchate in front of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate.
The prosecutor stated:
"Because the Ergenekon investigation has not been carried out
effectively and because the public has not been exemplary in the
investigation of deep structures in Turkey, the Trabzon cell's links
to upper level deep structures have not been revealed yet. However,
the investigation is not yet complete. The Ergenekon investigation
started in 2008, about one year after Hrant Dink's assassination,
which has been etched into history as the last assassination of this
terrorist group based in Trabzon."
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-257430-public-officials-role-in-dink-murder-still-being-ignored.html
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress