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Journalist gets prison sentence for praising Dink murder
2012-12-12 14:23:19
A journalist in Samsun was sentenced to a one year and 11-month prison
term for praising a crime and inciting hatred in a newspaper article
where he supported the murder of Hrant Dink.
Hrant Dink, the Armenian-Turkish journalist, was shot dead outside the
Agos newspaper office in Å?iÅ?li on Jan. 19, 2007. In the ensuing
investigation the police arrested the gunman, Ogün Samast, and his
accomplice, Yasin Hayal. Samast was ultimately sentenced to 22 years
and ten months imprisonment on charges of "premeditated murder" and
"unlicensed possession of weapons," and Hayal was found guilty of
soliciting Dink's murder -- giving Samast the idea and supplying him
with a weapon and money -- and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Journalist Okan BaÅ? praised Samast and Dink's killing in a column he
wrote for Statüko, a bimonthly magazine in Samsun. BaÅ? was sentenced
to one year and three months in prison for inciting hatred under
Article 216 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). In his column titled
`Gentlemen, what harm have the nationalists done to you?' BaÅ?,
managing editor of the magazine, wrote: `You know, a young man like
Ogün Samast has been condemned to serve a heavy penalty for shooting
Hrant, who said that `A Turk's blood is filthy'. He did a good thing,
didn't he?'
BaÅ? continued in his column: `If the state does not do what it needs
to do, and tolerates the foreigner who says `Turkish blood is filthy,'
if the state runs over the principles of nationalism trying to
ingratiate itself with the Armenians, then people will rise up and do
something about it. It doesn't mean a thing to put this man on a
trial.'
The `Say Stop to Racism and Nationalism!' group filed a lawsuit
against BaÅ?, and a criminal complaint was issued for offenses
including praising the crime and the criminal, provoking hatred and
enmity, and incitement to commit a crime, as well as insulting the
memory of a deceased person.
The trial concluded in October, and Samsun Second Criminal Court Judge
Murat Sarıyıldız recently announced the sentence of one year and 11
months in total; 15 months according to the Article 215 of the TCK for
`praising the crime and the criminal,' and eight months according to
Article 216 for `provoking hatred.' The punishment has been postponed
for five years.
Hakan BakırcıoÄ?lu, an attorney for the Dink family, commented that the
verdict was fair and added, `All the things that were written against
Dink created an atmosphere of a lynch mob that led to his eventual
murder. Punishing such behavior will prevent other similar incidents.'
Attorney BakırcıoÄ?lu added that this particular case was one of the
few in which Article 216 was properly applied.
http://lurer.com/?p=61486&l=en
From: A. Papazian
2012-12-12 14:23:19
A journalist in Samsun was sentenced to a one year and 11-month prison
term for praising a crime and inciting hatred in a newspaper article
where he supported the murder of Hrant Dink.
Hrant Dink, the Armenian-Turkish journalist, was shot dead outside the
Agos newspaper office in Å?iÅ?li on Jan. 19, 2007. In the ensuing
investigation the police arrested the gunman, Ogün Samast, and his
accomplice, Yasin Hayal. Samast was ultimately sentenced to 22 years
and ten months imprisonment on charges of "premeditated murder" and
"unlicensed possession of weapons," and Hayal was found guilty of
soliciting Dink's murder -- giving Samast the idea and supplying him
with a weapon and money -- and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Journalist Okan BaÅ? praised Samast and Dink's killing in a column he
wrote for Statüko, a bimonthly magazine in Samsun. BaÅ? was sentenced
to one year and three months in prison for inciting hatred under
Article 216 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). In his column titled
`Gentlemen, what harm have the nationalists done to you?' BaÅ?,
managing editor of the magazine, wrote: `You know, a young man like
Ogün Samast has been condemned to serve a heavy penalty for shooting
Hrant, who said that `A Turk's blood is filthy'. He did a good thing,
didn't he?'
BaÅ? continued in his column: `If the state does not do what it needs
to do, and tolerates the foreigner who says `Turkish blood is filthy,'
if the state runs over the principles of nationalism trying to
ingratiate itself with the Armenians, then people will rise up and do
something about it. It doesn't mean a thing to put this man on a
trial.'
The `Say Stop to Racism and Nationalism!' group filed a lawsuit
against BaÅ?, and a criminal complaint was issued for offenses
including praising the crime and the criminal, provoking hatred and
enmity, and incitement to commit a crime, as well as insulting the
memory of a deceased person.
The trial concluded in October, and Samsun Second Criminal Court Judge
Murat Sarıyıldız recently announced the sentence of one year and 11
months in total; 15 months according to the Article 215 of the TCK for
`praising the crime and the criminal,' and eight months according to
Article 216 for `provoking hatred.' The punishment has been postponed
for five years.
Hakan BakırcıoÄ?lu, an attorney for the Dink family, commented that the
verdict was fair and added, `All the things that were written against
Dink created an atmosphere of a lynch mob that led to his eventual
murder. Punishing such behavior will prevent other similar incidents.'
Attorney BakırcıoÄ?lu added that this particular case was one of the
few in which Article 216 was properly applied.
http://lurer.com/?p=61486&l=en
From: A. Papazian