Tweet
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS CONDEMN RULING IN DINK MURDER TRIAL
epress.am
01.18.2012
The conviction of several accomplices in the 2007 assassination of
Hrant Dink, then-editor of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, fails to
address the issue of who commissioned the slaying, thus perpetuating
impunity in the case, the Committee to Protect Journalists said
Tuesday.
The Turkish court's ruling was also criticized by Amnesty
International, which stated on Monday that the Turkish authorities
have failed to address state officials' alleged involvement in
Dink's murder.
Recall, İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court handed down life
imprisonment for Yasin Hayal, a major suspect in the case, of
instigating a murder while another suspect Erhan Tuncel was acquitted
of murder charges.
Commenting on Tuesday's court ruling, Turkey's Justice Minister
Sadullah Ergin has said the case has not yet been concluded.
"You know trials are made up of three phases, which are investigation,
prosecution and the appeals process. There is also an appeals process
for this trial. The case has not been concluded yet; it is still
in progress," Ergin said in response to a question during a press
conference on Wednesday.
In reaction to today's verdict, Dink's family lawyer Fethiye Cetin
told the Turkish press that the family will continue to press for
justice. "It is not over -- this trial is just beginning," she said.
Friends and supporters are planning a gathering on Jan. 19, the fifth
anniversary of Dink's slaying, to demand the end of impunity.
Cetin also vowed to pursue all available legal remedies against the
ruling, asserting that the verdict marked the end of only an initial
phase of the case, which consisted of the trial of hitmen in the
murder. The prosecutor in the case also plans to appeal the verdict.
"Justice for our colleague Hrant Dink will not be achieved until
the commissioners of his slaying five years ago are tried and
punished to the full extent of the law," CPJ Europe and Central Asia
Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said. "We stand in solidarity with
Dink's family, colleagues, and friends in calling for a thorough and
transparent investigation into the suspected involvement of military
and security service officials in this brutal crime."
Since the court proceedings began nearly five years ago, at least
19 individuals have been prosecuted for having various degrees of
involvement in Dink's murder, CPJ research shows. Tuesday's verdict --
two days before the fifth anniversary of the journalist's assassination
-- resulted in the convictions of only secondary accomplices and
failed to address the pivotal question of who masterminded the crime.
In July, a juvenile court sentenced Samast, a teenager at the time of
the killing, to about 23 years in prison for committing the crime,
news reports said. In June, a court in the Black Sea province of
Trabzon convicted six military officers of having had information
on the murder but failing to prevent the killing, according to news
reports. The officials were handed months-long prison terms, which
they have appealed, and they were not incarcerated. The masterminds
of the murder were never prosecuted.
epress.am
01.18.2012
The conviction of several accomplices in the 2007 assassination of
Hrant Dink, then-editor of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, fails to
address the issue of who commissioned the slaying, thus perpetuating
impunity in the case, the Committee to Protect Journalists said
Tuesday.
The Turkish court's ruling was also criticized by Amnesty
International, which stated on Monday that the Turkish authorities
have failed to address state officials' alleged involvement in
Dink's murder.
Recall, İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court handed down life
imprisonment for Yasin Hayal, a major suspect in the case, of
instigating a murder while another suspect Erhan Tuncel was acquitted
of murder charges.
Commenting on Tuesday's court ruling, Turkey's Justice Minister
Sadullah Ergin has said the case has not yet been concluded.
"You know trials are made up of three phases, which are investigation,
prosecution and the appeals process. There is also an appeals process
for this trial. The case has not been concluded yet; it is still
in progress," Ergin said in response to a question during a press
conference on Wednesday.
In reaction to today's verdict, Dink's family lawyer Fethiye Cetin
told the Turkish press that the family will continue to press for
justice. "It is not over -- this trial is just beginning," she said.
Friends and supporters are planning a gathering on Jan. 19, the fifth
anniversary of Dink's slaying, to demand the end of impunity.
Cetin also vowed to pursue all available legal remedies against the
ruling, asserting that the verdict marked the end of only an initial
phase of the case, which consisted of the trial of hitmen in the
murder. The prosecutor in the case also plans to appeal the verdict.
"Justice for our colleague Hrant Dink will not be achieved until
the commissioners of his slaying five years ago are tried and
punished to the full extent of the law," CPJ Europe and Central Asia
Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said. "We stand in solidarity with
Dink's family, colleagues, and friends in calling for a thorough and
transparent investigation into the suspected involvement of military
and security service officials in this brutal crime."
Since the court proceedings began nearly five years ago, at least
19 individuals have been prosecuted for having various degrees of
involvement in Dink's murder, CPJ research shows. Tuesday's verdict --
two days before the fifth anniversary of the journalist's assassination
-- resulted in the convictions of only secondary accomplices and
failed to address the pivotal question of who masterminded the crime.
In July, a juvenile court sentenced Samast, a teenager at the time of
the killing, to about 23 years in prison for committing the crime,
news reports said. In June, a court in the Black Sea province of
Trabzon convicted six military officers of having had information
on the murder but failing to prevent the killing, according to news
reports. The officials were handed months-long prison terms, which
they have appealed, and they were not incarcerated. The masterminds
of the murder were never prosecuted.