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WRITERS PROSECUTED FOR CRITICIZING HRANT DINK TRIAL
Today's Zaman, Turkey
April 4 2013
The Ä°stanbul Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation
into Agos Editor-in-Chief Rober KoptaÅ~_ and writer Umit Kıvanc
over remarks they made criticizing the manner in which the trial
of the suspects who murdered Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink
was conducted.
Dink, the former editor-in-chief of Agos, was shot in broad daylight
outside his office on Jan. 19, 2007. Although evidence pointing to
the complicity of security forces in the assassination came up during
the trial, the court said the hitman had acted alone and one other
man was guilty of soliciting him to murder. However, this decision
is likely to be overturned by the Supreme Court of Appeals, which is
currently reviewing the verdict.
KoptaÅ~_ and Kıvanc, who were guests of the Söz Sende (It's Your Turn
to Speak) program on HaberTurk television hosted by Balcicek Ä°lter,
criticized the trial and the verdict. The program was aired on Jan.
17, 2012. Both men said Dink's real murderer was "the state." An
Antalya resident, Aydın TaÅ~_cı, filed a complaint with the Ä°stanbul
Prosecutor's Office the next day. TaÅ~_cı in his petition said that
KoptaÅ~_ and Kıvanc were "obviously Armenians." He wrote that the two
men referred to the state of the Republic of Turkey as a "murderer"
and used "unflattering" words about the trial.
According to news reports on Thursday, Ä°stanbul Deputy Chief
Prosecutor Fikret Secen has decided to process the petition. TaÅ~_cı
testified a second time to an Antalya prosecutor, reiterating his
earlier complaint. He said the two men's statements had "belittled"
the Republic of Turkey and its judiciary. Reports said KoptaÅ~_
and Kıvanc are expected to testify to Secen on Thursday.
Hakan Bakırcıoglu, a lawyer representing the Agos newspaper, reacted
to the investigation, saying it should never have been launched. He
said it had emerged at every step of the investigation that public
officers were responsible in the Dink murder in a way that leaves no
room for dispute. He said that in addition to the evidence presented
to the courts, a report that came out at the end of a probe conducted
by the State Inspection Board (DDK) -- a presidential body -- and
another one by the Prime Ministerial Inspection Board as well as a
verdict from the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) openly blamed
several public officers of dereliction of duty.
He also said that even the prosecutor in the Dink trial had openly
said that the murder trial had not been conducted properly. He said the
views stated by KoptaÅ~_ and Kıvanc bear no criminal element and that
the prosecutor's office should not have taken the complaint seriously.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-311708-writers-prosecuted-for-criticizing-hrant-dink-trial.html
Today's Zaman, Turkey
April 4 2013
The Ä°stanbul Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation
into Agos Editor-in-Chief Rober KoptaÅ~_ and writer Umit Kıvanc
over remarks they made criticizing the manner in which the trial
of the suspects who murdered Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink
was conducted.
Dink, the former editor-in-chief of Agos, was shot in broad daylight
outside his office on Jan. 19, 2007. Although evidence pointing to
the complicity of security forces in the assassination came up during
the trial, the court said the hitman had acted alone and one other
man was guilty of soliciting him to murder. However, this decision
is likely to be overturned by the Supreme Court of Appeals, which is
currently reviewing the verdict.
KoptaÅ~_ and Kıvanc, who were guests of the Söz Sende (It's Your Turn
to Speak) program on HaberTurk television hosted by Balcicek Ä°lter,
criticized the trial and the verdict. The program was aired on Jan.
17, 2012. Both men said Dink's real murderer was "the state." An
Antalya resident, Aydın TaÅ~_cı, filed a complaint with the Ä°stanbul
Prosecutor's Office the next day. TaÅ~_cı in his petition said that
KoptaÅ~_ and Kıvanc were "obviously Armenians." He wrote that the two
men referred to the state of the Republic of Turkey as a "murderer"
and used "unflattering" words about the trial.
According to news reports on Thursday, Ä°stanbul Deputy Chief
Prosecutor Fikret Secen has decided to process the petition. TaÅ~_cı
testified a second time to an Antalya prosecutor, reiterating his
earlier complaint. He said the two men's statements had "belittled"
the Republic of Turkey and its judiciary. Reports said KoptaÅ~_
and Kıvanc are expected to testify to Secen on Thursday.
Hakan Bakırcıoglu, a lawyer representing the Agos newspaper, reacted
to the investigation, saying it should never have been launched. He
said it had emerged at every step of the investigation that public
officers were responsible in the Dink murder in a way that leaves no
room for dispute. He said that in addition to the evidence presented
to the courts, a report that came out at the end of a probe conducted
by the State Inspection Board (DDK) -- a presidential body -- and
another one by the Prime Ministerial Inspection Board as well as a
verdict from the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) openly blamed
several public officers of dereliction of duty.
He also said that even the prosecutor in the Dink trial had openly
said that the murder trial had not been conducted properly. He said the
views stated by KoptaÅ~_ and Kıvanc bear no criminal element and that
the prosecutor's office should not have taken the complaint seriously.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-311708-writers-prosecuted-for-criticizing-hrant-dink-trial.html