9 Turkish security officials get administrative punishment in Dink case
May 6, 2012 - 19:41 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Interior Minister Ä°dris Naim Å?ahin has said nine
security officials were given administrative punishments for
negligence in failing to prevent the 2007 murder of Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink, Today's Zaman reported.
Responding to parliamentary questions from Turgut Dibek, a deputy from
the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), about Dink's
murder, Å?ahin said five officials were sentenced to forfeiture of
monthly salary, three were given motions of censure and one was given
a warning. He said no investigation was allowed for eight officials,
prosecution was decided against for 31 and two were acquitted by a
court.
Dink, the late editor-in-chief of Agos, was shot dead by an
ultranationalist teenager outside the offices of his newspaper in
broad daylight in Istanbul on Jan. 19, 2007. A juvenile court
sentenced Dink's assassin, Ogün Samast, to 22 years and 10 months in
jail last July. He was 17 when the killing took place.
In January, an Istanbul court sentenced one man to life in prison for
involvement in Dink's murder but acquitted 17 other defendants,
sparking large protests and criticism from rights groups and angering
lawyers who said the trial failed to clarify whether there were
connections between the suspects and state officials.
A report commissioned by the Turkish president found negligence by
Turkish state officials in the killing of Dink.
Security officials failed to protect Dink despite warnings of a plot
to kill him, and the subsequent trial exposed widespread structural
problems in the legal system and the need for reforms, the report
said.
The report also revealed that the flawed murder investigation
undermined public trust in the security services.
May 6, 2012 - 19:41 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Interior Minister Ä°dris Naim Å?ahin has said nine
security officials were given administrative punishments for
negligence in failing to prevent the 2007 murder of Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink, Today's Zaman reported.
Responding to parliamentary questions from Turgut Dibek, a deputy from
the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), about Dink's
murder, Å?ahin said five officials were sentenced to forfeiture of
monthly salary, three were given motions of censure and one was given
a warning. He said no investigation was allowed for eight officials,
prosecution was decided against for 31 and two were acquitted by a
court.
Dink, the late editor-in-chief of Agos, was shot dead by an
ultranationalist teenager outside the offices of his newspaper in
broad daylight in Istanbul on Jan. 19, 2007. A juvenile court
sentenced Dink's assassin, Ogün Samast, to 22 years and 10 months in
jail last July. He was 17 when the killing took place.
In January, an Istanbul court sentenced one man to life in prison for
involvement in Dink's murder but acquitted 17 other defendants,
sparking large protests and criticism from rights groups and angering
lawyers who said the trial failed to clarify whether there were
connections between the suspects and state officials.
A report commissioned by the Turkish president found negligence by
Turkish state officials in the killing of Dink.
Security officials failed to protect Dink despite warnings of a plot
to kill him, and the subsequent trial exposed widespread structural
problems in the legal system and the need for reforms, the report
said.
The report also revealed that the flawed murder investigation
undermined public trust in the security services.