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CALL MADE FOR TRABZON GOVERNOR TO TESTIFY IN DINK TRIAL
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Feb 27 2013
A civil society organization set up specifically to monitor the
trial dealing with the case of murdered Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink announced on Wednesday it had submitted a petition to
the İstanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office asking that former Trabzon
Governor Huseyin Yavuzdemir be called as a witness in the event an
appeals court rules for a retrial.
Yavuzdemir was the governor of Black Sea province Trabzon when Dink
was shot to death by an ultranationalist youth outside the offices
of Armenian weekly Agos in 2007. Trabzon is linked to the case in
that the majority of suspects hail from that city and information
suggesting the murder was plotted there.
In his testimony to a sub-commission of the Human Rights Commission
in Parliament, Yavuzdemir said he held daily meetings with Trabzon's
provincial police chief and provincial gendarmerie commander as
stipulated by law while governor of Trabzon. He said he was not given
any information about the activities of Yasin Hayal or of plans to
murder Dink.
Hayal was a prime suspect in Dink's murder.
Yavuzdemir also said he was not informed about a Feb. 17, 2006 letter
written by the Trabzon Police Department to İstanbul's police
headquarters that included information about a plot to murder the
journalist in İstanbul.
"As the governor representing the state, if I had been informed about
the [murder] plot, I would have take the necessary legal action and
contributed to measures that could have prevented the assassination,"
Yavuzdemir told the sub-commission.
The hitman in the murder, Ogun Samast, and 18 others were tried in
proceedings that began in 2008. During the trial, lawyers for the Dink
family and the co-plaintiffs in the case presented evidence indicating
that Samast had not acted alone. Another suspect, Hayal, was given
life in prison last year for inciting Samast to murder. However, Erhan
Tuncel, who worked as an informant for the Trabzon Police Department,
was not found guilty of conspiring in the murder.
The prosecution believes the killers are affiliated with the Ergenekon
network, of which suspected members are currently standing trial
on charges of plotting to overthrow the government. Lawyers have
documented that the police force in Trabzon, as well as the İstanbul
Police Department, knew about the murder. In a separate trial, two
gendarmerie officers were convicted on charges of "dereliction of
duty" in the run-up to the Dink murder. There have also been other
instances that hinted at a cover-up and extrajudicial protection of
the suspects. In the end the court ruled that a group of teenagers
plotted to kill the journalist because he was an Armenian. The verdict
was met with outrage by civil society groups, politicians and others.
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Feb 27 2013
A civil society organization set up specifically to monitor the
trial dealing with the case of murdered Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink announced on Wednesday it had submitted a petition to
the İstanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office asking that former Trabzon
Governor Huseyin Yavuzdemir be called as a witness in the event an
appeals court rules for a retrial.
Yavuzdemir was the governor of Black Sea province Trabzon when Dink
was shot to death by an ultranationalist youth outside the offices
of Armenian weekly Agos in 2007. Trabzon is linked to the case in
that the majority of suspects hail from that city and information
suggesting the murder was plotted there.
In his testimony to a sub-commission of the Human Rights Commission
in Parliament, Yavuzdemir said he held daily meetings with Trabzon's
provincial police chief and provincial gendarmerie commander as
stipulated by law while governor of Trabzon. He said he was not given
any information about the activities of Yasin Hayal or of plans to
murder Dink.
Hayal was a prime suspect in Dink's murder.
Yavuzdemir also said he was not informed about a Feb. 17, 2006 letter
written by the Trabzon Police Department to İstanbul's police
headquarters that included information about a plot to murder the
journalist in İstanbul.
"As the governor representing the state, if I had been informed about
the [murder] plot, I would have take the necessary legal action and
contributed to measures that could have prevented the assassination,"
Yavuzdemir told the sub-commission.
The hitman in the murder, Ogun Samast, and 18 others were tried in
proceedings that began in 2008. During the trial, lawyers for the Dink
family and the co-plaintiffs in the case presented evidence indicating
that Samast had not acted alone. Another suspect, Hayal, was given
life in prison last year for inciting Samast to murder. However, Erhan
Tuncel, who worked as an informant for the Trabzon Police Department,
was not found guilty of conspiring in the murder.
The prosecution believes the killers are affiliated with the Ergenekon
network, of which suspected members are currently standing trial
on charges of plotting to overthrow the government. Lawyers have
documented that the police force in Trabzon, as well as the İstanbul
Police Department, knew about the murder. In a separate trial, two
gendarmerie officers were convicted on charges of "dereliction of
duty" in the run-up to the Dink murder. There have also been other
instances that hinted at a cover-up and extrajudicial protection of
the suspects. In the end the court ruled that a group of teenagers
plotted to kill the journalist because he was an Armenian. The verdict
was met with outrage by civil society groups, politicians and others.