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'DINK CASE REVEALS SHORTCOMINGS IN TURKISH JUSTICE'
Today's Zaman
Jan 19 2012
Turkey
EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee President Helene Flautre on
Thursday released a statement regarding the outcome of the Hrant Dink
murder trial, saying she considered the verdict to be yet another
example of the "systemic shortcomings" in Turkey's justice system.
The late editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, Dink was
shot dead on Jan. 19, 2007, by an ultra-nationalist teenager outside
the offices of his newspaper in İstanbul in broad daylight. Evidence
discovered since then has led to claims that the murder was linked
to the "deep state."
Flautre said she considered that the verdict "is evidence of the
limits of investigation in Turkey, which not only makes justice and
its delivery weak, but also makes it part of the problem of injustice
rather than the solution." She said that the European Parliament will
follow the next steps in this trial and hopes that the Court of Appeal
considers the investigation's shortcomings in its decision.
She also recalled that in a 2010 ruling, the European Court of Human
Rights (ECtHR), found that Turkey had failed to conduct effective
investigations into the murder of Dink. She said further judicial
investigation of the involvement of high-ranking officials in the
murder was needed. Flautre also noted that the case showed the need
for fundamental reforms in Turkey.
In the statement, she underlined that the trial was considered as
a test for the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary in
Turkey. She also said it had presented an opportunity to shed light
on the "deep state," a term used in reference to a shady group of
military and civilian bureaucrats believed to have links with criminal
elements. "This verdict means not only that this opportunity has
been missed but it also reveals the shortcomings in Turkey's justice
system," Flautre said in her message.
From: Baghdasarian
Today's Zaman
Jan 19 2012
Turkey
EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee President Helene Flautre on
Thursday released a statement regarding the outcome of the Hrant Dink
murder trial, saying she considered the verdict to be yet another
example of the "systemic shortcomings" in Turkey's justice system.
The late editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, Dink was
shot dead on Jan. 19, 2007, by an ultra-nationalist teenager outside
the offices of his newspaper in İstanbul in broad daylight. Evidence
discovered since then has led to claims that the murder was linked
to the "deep state."
Flautre said she considered that the verdict "is evidence of the
limits of investigation in Turkey, which not only makes justice and
its delivery weak, but also makes it part of the problem of injustice
rather than the solution." She said that the European Parliament will
follow the next steps in this trial and hopes that the Court of Appeal
considers the investigation's shortcomings in its decision.
She also recalled that in a 2010 ruling, the European Court of Human
Rights (ECtHR), found that Turkey had failed to conduct effective
investigations into the murder of Dink. She said further judicial
investigation of the involvement of high-ranking officials in the
murder was needed. Flautre also noted that the case showed the need
for fundamental reforms in Turkey.
In the statement, she underlined that the trial was considered as
a test for the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary in
Turkey. She also said it had presented an opportunity to shed light
on the "deep state," a term used in reference to a shady group of
military and civilian bureaucrats believed to have links with criminal
elements. "This verdict means not only that this opportunity has
been missed but it also reveals the shortcomings in Turkey's justice
system," Flautre said in her message.
From: Baghdasarian