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GROUP STAGES PROTEST OUTSIDE İSTANBUL COURT HEARING DINK CASE
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Dec 3 2013
3 December 2013 /TODAY'S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL
A group of people staged a protest outside an İstanbul court on
Tuesday demanding justice for the 2007 killing of Hrant Dink, the
late editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos.
The protest took place outside the İstanbul Courthouse in Caglayan
while the court was holding a hearing for the Dink trial on Tuesday
afternoon. The group, led by Turkish-Armenian actor and director
Sermiyan Midyat, carried placards that read, "For justice, for Hrant"
and "Murderous state will give an account."
Speaking to members of press outside the courthouse, Midyat said that
there have been no legal cases trying the public personnel allegedly
involved in Dink's murder during the whole seven years of the trial.
"Some of those [public personnel] have even been promoted at their
jobs. Those judges who found 'criminal elements' in one of Dink's
articles have all been promoted. And in this trial, which has started
from the beginning for a second time, the guy who pulled the trigger
will probably get punished, but those people who did not prevent him
from murdering Dink will get away," Midyat said.
He continued, criticizing the ruling government for insisting that
it cannot interfere in the legal case. "However, we all know that
if the ruling government wants to, it can clear all the roadblocks
preventing the case from being brought to justice," he added.
Erhan Tuncel, who was previously acquitted of all charges related to
the Dink murder, was again arrested in connection with the case last
week. He first held gendarmes responsible for the murder; however,
he changed his testimony at Tuesday's hearing, claiming that some
people within the police department were responsible for the murder.
Dink was shot and killed in broad daylight on Jan. 19, 2007, by an
ultranationalist teenager outside the offices of his newspaper in
İstanbul. Evidence discovered since then has led to claims that the
murder was linked to the "deep state," a term used in reference to
a shady group of military and civilian bureaucrats believed to have
links to criminal elements.
The İstanbul court launched the new trial after the Supreme Court
of Appeals in May overturned the court's Jan. 17, 2012 ruling in
which it dismissed the involvement of an organized criminal network
in the murder.
The prosecutor of the first trial said that the murder was planned
and carried out by the Ergenekon terrorist organization, but the court
denied the existence of organized criminal activity in the murder.
The prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals later said that there
was a terrorist organization involved and that the state should
investigate it.
The 9th Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals in May ruled that there
was an organization involved, but said that it was a simple crime ring,
effectively denying that Ergenekon played any role in the murder.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-333036-group-stages-protest-outside-istanbul-court-hearing-dink-case.html
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Dec 3 2013
3 December 2013 /TODAY'S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL
A group of people staged a protest outside an İstanbul court on
Tuesday demanding justice for the 2007 killing of Hrant Dink, the
late editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos.
The protest took place outside the İstanbul Courthouse in Caglayan
while the court was holding a hearing for the Dink trial on Tuesday
afternoon. The group, led by Turkish-Armenian actor and director
Sermiyan Midyat, carried placards that read, "For justice, for Hrant"
and "Murderous state will give an account."
Speaking to members of press outside the courthouse, Midyat said that
there have been no legal cases trying the public personnel allegedly
involved in Dink's murder during the whole seven years of the trial.
"Some of those [public personnel] have even been promoted at their
jobs. Those judges who found 'criminal elements' in one of Dink's
articles have all been promoted. And in this trial, which has started
from the beginning for a second time, the guy who pulled the trigger
will probably get punished, but those people who did not prevent him
from murdering Dink will get away," Midyat said.
He continued, criticizing the ruling government for insisting that
it cannot interfere in the legal case. "However, we all know that
if the ruling government wants to, it can clear all the roadblocks
preventing the case from being brought to justice," he added.
Erhan Tuncel, who was previously acquitted of all charges related to
the Dink murder, was again arrested in connection with the case last
week. He first held gendarmes responsible for the murder; however,
he changed his testimony at Tuesday's hearing, claiming that some
people within the police department were responsible for the murder.
Dink was shot and killed in broad daylight on Jan. 19, 2007, by an
ultranationalist teenager outside the offices of his newspaper in
İstanbul. Evidence discovered since then has led to claims that the
murder was linked to the "deep state," a term used in reference to
a shady group of military and civilian bureaucrats believed to have
links to criminal elements.
The İstanbul court launched the new trial after the Supreme Court
of Appeals in May overturned the court's Jan. 17, 2012 ruling in
which it dismissed the involvement of an organized criminal network
in the murder.
The prosecutor of the first trial said that the murder was planned
and carried out by the Ergenekon terrorist organization, but the court
denied the existence of organized criminal activity in the murder.
The prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals later said that there
was a terrorist organization involved and that the state should
investigate it.
The 9th Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals in May ruled that there
was an organization involved, but said that it was a simple crime ring,
effectively denying that Ergenekon played any role in the murder.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-333036-group-stages-protest-outside-istanbul-court-hearing-dink-case.html