JUDGE, PROSECUTOR IN HRANT DINK CASE FACE PROBE AFTER CLASH OVER VERDICT
epress.am
01.26.2012
Turkey's top judicial council ordered an investigation of the judge
and prosecutor in the recently concluded Hrant Dink murder case
on Wednesday after they publicly clashed over the verdict, Today's
Zaman reported.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Supreme Board of Judges and
Prosecutors (HSYK) said an investigation has been launched into Rustem
Eryılmaz and Hikmet Usta after publication in the media of several
news articles concerning their statements about the Dink case. It
was not immediately clear whether they face any legal sanctions.
Ending the five-year trial, the İstanbul 14th High Criminal
Court sentenced suspect Yasin Hayal to life imprisonment for his
role in the 2007 killing of Turkish-Armenian journalist Dink, but
acquitted 19 defendants charged with being part of a terrorist group,
sparking outrage among the family's lawyers as well as politicians
and intellectuals who say the murder was part of a bigger conspiracy
that involved state bureaucrats.
In remarks published soon after the ruling, the presiding judge of
the İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court, Rustem Eryılmaz, said while
he personally cannot deny the murder was well-organized, the evidence
submitted to the court was not sufficient to issue a ruling that it
was an organized crime.
In a rare public exchange, Prosecutor Hikmet Usta swiftly responded to
the judge's statement, saying in a two-page long petition as part of
his appeal of the Jan. 17 verdict that there was plenty of evidence
to establish the murder was the result of efforts by an organized
criminal group.
From: Baghdasarian
epress.am
01.26.2012
Turkey's top judicial council ordered an investigation of the judge
and prosecutor in the recently concluded Hrant Dink murder case
on Wednesday after they publicly clashed over the verdict, Today's
Zaman reported.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Supreme Board of Judges and
Prosecutors (HSYK) said an investigation has been launched into Rustem
Eryılmaz and Hikmet Usta after publication in the media of several
news articles concerning their statements about the Dink case. It
was not immediately clear whether they face any legal sanctions.
Ending the five-year trial, the İstanbul 14th High Criminal
Court sentenced suspect Yasin Hayal to life imprisonment for his
role in the 2007 killing of Turkish-Armenian journalist Dink, but
acquitted 19 defendants charged with being part of a terrorist group,
sparking outrage among the family's lawyers as well as politicians
and intellectuals who say the murder was part of a bigger conspiracy
that involved state bureaucrats.
In remarks published soon after the ruling, the presiding judge of
the İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court, Rustem Eryılmaz, said while
he personally cannot deny the murder was well-organized, the evidence
submitted to the court was not sufficient to issue a ruling that it
was an organized crime.
In a rare public exchange, Prosecutor Hikmet Usta swiftly responded to
the judge's statement, saying in a two-page long petition as part of
his appeal of the Jan. 17 verdict that there was plenty of evidence
to establish the murder was the result of efforts by an organized
criminal group.
From: Baghdasarian