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SECRECY IN THE INVESTIGATION OF ATTACKS ON ARMENIAN WOMEN
Today's Zaman, Turkey
March 12 2013
ORHAN KEMAL CENGÄ°Z
We all sighed a huge relief when we heard that Murat Nazaryan, who is
suspected of murdering one and attacking many elderly Armenian women
in the Samatya district of Ä°stanbul, had been arrested. Nazaryan is a
Turkish citizen of Armenian descent. This has of course, in the eyes
of many, eliminated the much-feared possibility that these murders
and attacks against Armenian women in Ä°stanbul had been committed
out of hatred.
The police came out with quite a convincing explanation as to how
and why they arrested the suspect. They looked at all the records of
video surveillance cameras in the region and saw Nazaryan stalking
some elder Armenian women. In addition to this, police reported that
there was a perfect match between the DNA samples collected from the
crime scene where one of the victims was killed and Nazaryan's own.
There were however, some questions that were left unanswered:
Nazaryan may be the attacker, but is it possible that there are other
attackers? How did police all of a sudden become so sure that Nazaryan
committed all these attacks and murders on his own? In this vein,
I found what Rober KoptaÅ~_, the editor-in-chief of the Armenian
daily Agos, said to be quite interesting:
"I'm not one of those who are highly skeptical about [Nazaryan]. I
researched his story and found out that he didn't have a good
childhood and has some psychological problems. ... He also apparently
confessed. I don't think police would try to force a confession in a
case that has drawn so much public attention. ... But is there anyone
behind the attacks? This is something that needs to be investigated
and answered. We haven't been able to see the evidence or [Nazaryan's]
statement due to the decision to keep them confidential. We'll see what
will happen and what will be revealed during the court proceedings."
The Human Rights Association's (Ä°HD) Eren Keskin recently visited
Nazaryan in prison, and also has concerns over what she says is
a strange decision to keep the file closed to the public. Keskin
told the Independent Communication Network (Bianet) that she "does
not understand why there is secrecy over the file nor what the
authorities want to hide from the public." She indicated that file's
confidentiality should be lifted.
I absolutely agree with Ms. Keskin. These murders and attacks have
caused much concern in the public and everyone has the right to learn
of any development in the case. If there is such a simple explanation
for these attacks and murders, namely one frantic former criminal who
attacked all these women to rob them, why on earth did the prosecutor
decide to put a stamp of "confidential" on the file?
In any case, the decision to do so is extremely problematic. If
this is not an "organized" or "terrorist" crime, what on earth is
this decision of secrecy aiming to protect? In terrorist crimes,
for example, the state wishes to protect witnesses or conceal some
information from the members of the organization who have yet to be
caught. Is there any witness who needs to be protected, or are there
some accomplices in the crime who the prosecutor wants to keep from
learning further about the case? Or, is this simply a precaution to
prevent public involvement in the case -- to prevent people from
asking pressing questions about the quality and the depth of the
investigation and prosecution?
I do not know the answers yet, and we will most probably not be able
to find out any more until this extremely suspicious decision to make
the file secret is lifted.
http://www.todayszaman.com/columnistDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=309545
Today's Zaman, Turkey
March 12 2013
ORHAN KEMAL CENGÄ°Z
We all sighed a huge relief when we heard that Murat Nazaryan, who is
suspected of murdering one and attacking many elderly Armenian women
in the Samatya district of Ä°stanbul, had been arrested. Nazaryan is a
Turkish citizen of Armenian descent. This has of course, in the eyes
of many, eliminated the much-feared possibility that these murders
and attacks against Armenian women in Ä°stanbul had been committed
out of hatred.
The police came out with quite a convincing explanation as to how
and why they arrested the suspect. They looked at all the records of
video surveillance cameras in the region and saw Nazaryan stalking
some elder Armenian women. In addition to this, police reported that
there was a perfect match between the DNA samples collected from the
crime scene where one of the victims was killed and Nazaryan's own.
There were however, some questions that were left unanswered:
Nazaryan may be the attacker, but is it possible that there are other
attackers? How did police all of a sudden become so sure that Nazaryan
committed all these attacks and murders on his own? In this vein,
I found what Rober KoptaÅ~_, the editor-in-chief of the Armenian
daily Agos, said to be quite interesting:
"I'm not one of those who are highly skeptical about [Nazaryan]. I
researched his story and found out that he didn't have a good
childhood and has some psychological problems. ... He also apparently
confessed. I don't think police would try to force a confession in a
case that has drawn so much public attention. ... But is there anyone
behind the attacks? This is something that needs to be investigated
and answered. We haven't been able to see the evidence or [Nazaryan's]
statement due to the decision to keep them confidential. We'll see what
will happen and what will be revealed during the court proceedings."
The Human Rights Association's (Ä°HD) Eren Keskin recently visited
Nazaryan in prison, and also has concerns over what she says is
a strange decision to keep the file closed to the public. Keskin
told the Independent Communication Network (Bianet) that she "does
not understand why there is secrecy over the file nor what the
authorities want to hide from the public." She indicated that file's
confidentiality should be lifted.
I absolutely agree with Ms. Keskin. These murders and attacks have
caused much concern in the public and everyone has the right to learn
of any development in the case. If there is such a simple explanation
for these attacks and murders, namely one frantic former criminal who
attacked all these women to rob them, why on earth did the prosecutor
decide to put a stamp of "confidential" on the file?
In any case, the decision to do so is extremely problematic. If
this is not an "organized" or "terrorist" crime, what on earth is
this decision of secrecy aiming to protect? In terrorist crimes,
for example, the state wishes to protect witnesses or conceal some
information from the members of the organization who have yet to be
caught. Is there any witness who needs to be protected, or are there
some accomplices in the crime who the prosecutor wants to keep from
learning further about the case? Or, is this simply a precaution to
prevent public involvement in the case -- to prevent people from
asking pressing questions about the quality and the depth of the
investigation and prosecution?
I do not know the answers yet, and we will most probably not be able
to find out any more until this extremely suspicious decision to make
the file secret is lifted.
http://www.todayszaman.com/columnistDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=309545