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DINK RULING JUDGE SAYS NOT HAPPY WITH CONTROVERSIAL VERDICT EITHER
Today's Zaman
Jan 19 2012
Turkey
Amidst wide public criticism of a Turkish court's recent ruling
that ruled out involvement of an organized criminal network in the
2007 killing of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, the court's
presiding judge has said he is personally not satisfied with the
verdict either.
The presiding judge of the İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court, Rustem
Eryılmaz, spoke with the Vatan daily on Thursday and responded to
criticism of the court's Tuesday ruling in the five-year-long Dink
murder case. He said while he personally cannot deny the murder was
well-organized, the evidence submitted to the court was not sufficient
to issue such a ruling. "According to the evidence, there is no
[illegal] organization [involved in the murder]. But we cannot say
there is no organization involved in the case," Eyılmaz said.
In what many said was a shocking and frustrating ruling for the
five-year-long trial in the Dink case, the İstanbul court cleared
all suspects in the case of membership in a terrorist organization,
angering lawyers and many others who say the trial failed to shed
light on alleged connections between the suspects and state officials.
The court convicted Yasin Hayal, a major suspect in the killing
of Turkish-Armenian journalist Dink, of instigating a murder and
sentenced him to life in prison, while another suspected instigator,
Erhan Tuncel, was acquitted by the court. "We acquitted the suspects
of organized crime charges. This ruling does not mean that there was
no organization involved. This means that there was not enough evidence
to prove the actions of this organization," the embattled judge said.
Noting that he and other judges of the court also think the Dink
murder was not an ordinary one, he said there certainly is someone
who instigated the murder, but they had no evidence to prove that.
Sharing his personal views about the case, Eryılmaz added that he
believes that the killing of Dink was not simply an idea thought up by
Hayal. "There must be some instigators. This is my personal view. But
in order to accept this situation as legal fact, there should be
evidence. Since expectations were high in this case, this ruling
pleased nobody. If you ask me whether I was personally satisfied,
I would say no since I believe there are more instigators. But this
is the best ruling that can be issued in accordance with the evidence
in the case file," he said.
Complaining that light was not shed on the background of the murder
in this case, the judge said the ruling still does not mean that
the Dink case is closed. He recalled that there is an ongoing case
against the unknown masterminds of the murder and state officials
who are accused of abuse of power in the murder of Dink.
Dink was shot dead on Jan. 19, 2007 by the ultranationalist Ogun
Samast outside the offices of his newspaper in İstanbul in broad
daylight. Even though five years have passed since his assassination,
Dink family lawyers and civil society organizations have long remained
concerned that evidence relating to the real perpetrators of the crime
is still being covered up and that even if the court's ruling punishes
the hit men, the public's sense of justice will not be satisfied.
The judge's remarks were met with criticism by Deputy Prime Minister
Bulent Arınc, who stated that "judges speak with their rulings." The
politician said statements such as "My conscience was not satisfied"
do not suit a judge. Arınc recalled that the court forgot to issue a
ruling about a suspect in the case, saying the presiding judge should
first have commented on this mistake.
Today's Zaman
Jan 19 2012
Turkey
Amidst wide public criticism of a Turkish court's recent ruling
that ruled out involvement of an organized criminal network in the
2007 killing of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, the court's
presiding judge has said he is personally not satisfied with the
verdict either.
The presiding judge of the İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court, Rustem
Eryılmaz, spoke with the Vatan daily on Thursday and responded to
criticism of the court's Tuesday ruling in the five-year-long Dink
murder case. He said while he personally cannot deny the murder was
well-organized, the evidence submitted to the court was not sufficient
to issue such a ruling. "According to the evidence, there is no
[illegal] organization [involved in the murder]. But we cannot say
there is no organization involved in the case," Eyılmaz said.
In what many said was a shocking and frustrating ruling for the
five-year-long trial in the Dink case, the İstanbul court cleared
all suspects in the case of membership in a terrorist organization,
angering lawyers and many others who say the trial failed to shed
light on alleged connections between the suspects and state officials.
The court convicted Yasin Hayal, a major suspect in the killing
of Turkish-Armenian journalist Dink, of instigating a murder and
sentenced him to life in prison, while another suspected instigator,
Erhan Tuncel, was acquitted by the court. "We acquitted the suspects
of organized crime charges. This ruling does not mean that there was
no organization involved. This means that there was not enough evidence
to prove the actions of this organization," the embattled judge said.
Noting that he and other judges of the court also think the Dink
murder was not an ordinary one, he said there certainly is someone
who instigated the murder, but they had no evidence to prove that.
Sharing his personal views about the case, Eryılmaz added that he
believes that the killing of Dink was not simply an idea thought up by
Hayal. "There must be some instigators. This is my personal view. But
in order to accept this situation as legal fact, there should be
evidence. Since expectations were high in this case, this ruling
pleased nobody. If you ask me whether I was personally satisfied,
I would say no since I believe there are more instigators. But this
is the best ruling that can be issued in accordance with the evidence
in the case file," he said.
Complaining that light was not shed on the background of the murder
in this case, the judge said the ruling still does not mean that
the Dink case is closed. He recalled that there is an ongoing case
against the unknown masterminds of the murder and state officials
who are accused of abuse of power in the murder of Dink.
Dink was shot dead on Jan. 19, 2007 by the ultranationalist Ogun
Samast outside the offices of his newspaper in İstanbul in broad
daylight. Even though five years have passed since his assassination,
Dink family lawyers and civil society organizations have long remained
concerned that evidence relating to the real perpetrators of the crime
is still being covered up and that even if the court's ruling punishes
the hit men, the public's sense of justice will not be satisfied.
The judge's remarks were met with criticism by Deputy Prime Minister
Bulent Arınc, who stated that "judges speak with their rulings." The
politician said statements such as "My conscience was not satisfied"
do not suit a judge. Arınc recalled that the court forgot to issue a
ruling about a suspect in the case, saying the presiding judge should
first have commented on this mistake.