DINK HIT ORGANIZED, SAYS TOP PROSECUTOR
http://www.armradio.am/en/2013/01/11/dink-hit-organized-says-top-prosecutor/
12:39 11.01.2013
The prosecutor's office of the Supreme Court of Appeals of Turkey has
asked the top court to overturn the rulings in the Hrant Dink murder
case, arguing that the assassination was organized.
"It is obvious that the murder was not an ordinary killing, the
actions filed in the report had the goals of causing chaos in society,
weakening authority, disrupting the unity and territorial integrity
of the state and putting our country in a disturbing position," the
office's appeal, made public today, read, Hurriyet Daily News reports.
Dink, an Armenian-Turkish journalist, was assassinated in Istanbul
in January 2007 by Ogun Samast, a 17-year old Turkish nationalist,
in front of the offices of Agos, the weekly for which he was the
editor-in-chief.
After two years of proceedings Samast was convicted on July 25,
2011, of premeditated murder and illegal possession of a firearm
by Istanbul's Juvenile Court for Serious Crimes and sentenced to 22
years and 10 months. Another suspect, Yasin Hayal, was convicted of
ordering the murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
However, the court ruled that Dink's murder was not an organized crime
despite serious claims that some civil servants were "indirectly"
involved.
The appeal by the prosecutor's office also noted that there was no
active investigation in the beginning to determine the network among
the conspirators.
The Turkish Presidency's State Supervisory Council (DDK) recommended
in an official report in February 2012 that top police and gendarmerie
officials be prosecuted in the Dink murder case due to their alleged
negligence before and after the journalist's killing.
The DDK also touched on the need to reform the secret services in
order to have the ability to prevent the murders of key personalities
or social unrest like the bloody incidents that took place in Sivas
in 1993 or in KahramanmaraÅ~_ in 1978. "Hrant Dink's murder must be
evaluated as a whole, starting from when Dink was singled out as a
target and threatened," the 650-page report said.
Claims were directed at Istanbul's former Gov. Muammer Guler, as
well as the Istanbul Police Department's intelligence director, Ahmet
Ä°lhan Guler. Accordingly, the Trabzonchief of police sent a report
to the Istanbul Police to warn of an assassination plot against Dink,
but Guler allegedly did not take it seriously. Attempts to investigate
Guler after the murder have been blocked.
The report's findings regarding the negligence of the Trabzon Police
Department have been omitted from the file put on the web. This
section includes the assessment of six important criticisms leveled
against the verdict.
Noting that senior civil servants had a direct role in not protecting
Dink before the murder even though they had received crucial
intelligence regarding the impending danger, the report suggested
that these civil servants should also be prosecuted.
http://www.armradio.am/en/2013/01/11/dink-hit-organized-says-top-prosecutor/
12:39 11.01.2013
The prosecutor's office of the Supreme Court of Appeals of Turkey has
asked the top court to overturn the rulings in the Hrant Dink murder
case, arguing that the assassination was organized.
"It is obvious that the murder was not an ordinary killing, the
actions filed in the report had the goals of causing chaos in society,
weakening authority, disrupting the unity and territorial integrity
of the state and putting our country in a disturbing position," the
office's appeal, made public today, read, Hurriyet Daily News reports.
Dink, an Armenian-Turkish journalist, was assassinated in Istanbul
in January 2007 by Ogun Samast, a 17-year old Turkish nationalist,
in front of the offices of Agos, the weekly for which he was the
editor-in-chief.
After two years of proceedings Samast was convicted on July 25,
2011, of premeditated murder and illegal possession of a firearm
by Istanbul's Juvenile Court for Serious Crimes and sentenced to 22
years and 10 months. Another suspect, Yasin Hayal, was convicted of
ordering the murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
However, the court ruled that Dink's murder was not an organized crime
despite serious claims that some civil servants were "indirectly"
involved.
The appeal by the prosecutor's office also noted that there was no
active investigation in the beginning to determine the network among
the conspirators.
The Turkish Presidency's State Supervisory Council (DDK) recommended
in an official report in February 2012 that top police and gendarmerie
officials be prosecuted in the Dink murder case due to their alleged
negligence before and after the journalist's killing.
The DDK also touched on the need to reform the secret services in
order to have the ability to prevent the murders of key personalities
or social unrest like the bloody incidents that took place in Sivas
in 1993 or in KahramanmaraÅ~_ in 1978. "Hrant Dink's murder must be
evaluated as a whole, starting from when Dink was singled out as a
target and threatened," the 650-page report said.
Claims were directed at Istanbul's former Gov. Muammer Guler, as
well as the Istanbul Police Department's intelligence director, Ahmet
Ä°lhan Guler. Accordingly, the Trabzonchief of police sent a report
to the Istanbul Police to warn of an assassination plot against Dink,
but Guler allegedly did not take it seriously. Attempts to investigate
Guler after the murder have been blocked.
The report's findings regarding the negligence of the Trabzon Police
Department have been omitted from the file put on the web. This
section includes the assessment of six important criticisms leveled
against the verdict.
Noting that senior civil servants had a direct role in not protecting
Dink before the murder even though they had received crucial
intelligence regarding the impending danger, the report suggested
that these civil servants should also be prosecuted.