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DINK RETRIAL STARTS WITH DECISION TO ARREST DEFENDANT ERHAN TUNCEL
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Sept 17 2013
17 September 2013 /YONCA POYRAZ DOÄ~^AN, Ä°STANBUL
A local court has ordered the arrest of Erhan Tuncel -- previously
acquitted of all charges related to the 2007 killing of Hrant Dink,
the late editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos -- in
the retrial of the Dink murder case amidst repeated chants calling for
justice by Hrant's Friends outside the biggest courthouse in Ä°stanbul
on Tuesday and a decision by Dink's family not to take part anymore
in the "games played by state mechanisms."
The Ä°stanbul 14th High Criminal Court began a review of the trial
after the Supreme Court of Appeals overturned in May the Ä°stanbul
court's ruling of Jan. 17, 2012, in which it dismissed the involvement
of an organized criminal network in the murder.
Tuncel, who worked as an informant for the Trabzon Police Department,
was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in the 2004 bombing
of a McDonald's restaurant in the Black Sea town of Trabzon but
was acquitted of all charges regarding the Dink murder, including
prosecutors' claims in the first trial that he was the one who ordered
Yasin Hayal, the man who was given a life sentence for soliciting
Dink's shooter, to murder him.
Hakan Bakırcıoglu, one of the lawyers representing the Dink family
in the case, said that the Supreme Court of Appeals' 9th Criminal
Chamber had indicated in its May decision that Tuncel may have played
a crucial role in the murder of Dink, so he was expected at the court
as a defendant on Tuesday.
"We expected the Ä°stanbul court to issue this arrest warrant because
of the high court's decision," he told Today's Zaman.
Tuncel's lawyer, Erdogan Soruklu, presented a doctor's report to the
court Tuncel was not able to appear due to an illness, but the lawyer
said Tuncel will be present at the next hearing.
Soruklu said that the high court's overturning of the local court's
decision was incorrect and given under pressure; therefore, it was
against the citizenship and human rights of Tuncel.
"Tuncel was stigmatized as 'big brother' in public, and the appeals
process was influenced," he said, insisting that Tuncel is not guilty
of the crime as the local court first ruled for his acquittal.
The only defendants present at the first hearing were Hayal and
Salih Hacısalihoglu.
Asked by Judge Mustafa BaÅ~_er to present his views regarding the
high court's decision, Hayal said he is not guilty of killing Dink
but Tuncel is. Hayal referred to written confessions from a former
gendarmerie intelligence officer, known as M.A., previously presented
to the court in which the officer admits he was going to kill Dink
with Tuncel.
"I have not established or run a criminal organization. I don't
know why I am being linked to an alleged criminal organization,"
Hayal told the court.
Hayal and Tuncel, along with all other defendants, were cleared
of charges of membership in a terrorist organization in the local
court's ruling.
Dink was shot and killed in broad daylight on Jan. 19, 2007, by an
ultranationalist teenager outside the offices of his newspaper in
Ä°stanbul. 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.
Bahri Belen, one of the lawyers for the Dink family, spoke in court
in reference to the organized, deep-state criminal network, but Judge
BaÅ~_er warned him, saying that the high court limited the scope of
the involvement of a criminal network to only a few people.
The lawyers representing the Dink family fear the new trial process
will stay within these limits drawn by the high court.
Fethiye Cetin, the chief lawyer on the case, said last week at a
press conference that the new process is most likely to put the case
at a worse standpoint than before because the initial trial had been
launched on the premise of a terrorist organization, but the high
court decision says it is an armed organization formed to commit a
specific crime.
Belen emphasized this point in court, indicating that the high court's
decision has been wrongly interpreted as a positive turning point
for their case.
"We don't think that this criminal network is a small one, like the
high court does," he said. "The Supreme Court of Appeals is wrong,
but it is still important that it overturned the ruling of the
local court."
Cetin explained that according to the decision of the high court,
the criminal organization involved was established in 2004 by Hayal
with political motivations and consisted of only a few other people,
including Tuncel, who were ultranationalists angry with Dink for
"insulting Turkishness," as he had been charged with, so they wanted
to punish him.
She also noted that Dink was not even sentenced in 2004 for that
crime attributed to him.
Earlier this month, Cetin published a book titled "Utanc Duyuyorum:
Hrant Dink Cinayetinin Yargısı" ("I Feel Ashamed: The Judgment of
the Hrant Dink Murder"), explaining that the high court had defined
the motivations of the organization as being "political" rather than
"terrorist" in its verdict that led to the review of the case.
Dink's lawyers had submitted a petition to the Supreme Court of
Appeals, arguing that the lower court's ruling violated the Turkish
Penal Code (TCK) by acknowledging the existence of a criminal
organization but declining to investigate it and that the court
ignored the evidence of the involvement of a terrorist organization.
Meanwhile, a written statement sent to press by the Dink family on
Tuesday said the family will no longer attend the hearings to avoid
being part of the "games played by state mechanisms."
Cetin read some parts of that statement at the hearing, indicating
that it should be in the court records because the family's decision
is directly related to the review of the case.
"I have spoken with my clients; they are the late Hrant Dink's family
and close friends. They do not want to come to hearings anymore because
they do not want to watch this game anymore. They also said that this
case does not belong only to their family but to others who would like
to see a transparent state and peace, so for that reason they would
like us, the lawyers, to follow the case closely on their behalf,"
she said.
The family's statement made headlines today in some Turkish newspapers
because some members of the Dink family regularly attended the hearings
of the first trial and their decision represents a turning point that
they have lost faith in the justice system.
Part of the statement by the Dink family, dated Sept. 16, reads: "In
order not to become dirtier, we will not step into those courthouses
where lies are so easily said, force so easily used, and rightfulness,
truth, rights and justice so easily stepped on. ... Since the day
Hrant Dink was slain on Jan. 19, 2007, the system in Turkey, with
its judiciary, police, military, civilian bureaucracy and political
institutions, have made fun of us. ... On the other hand, opposition
parties, with their attitude toward Article 301 and support for
ultranationalist feelings and breeding hitmen, were the main actors
in the climate of murder. ... We will be where we are and where are
supposed be: on the side of those who were killed by the sticks of
the state."
The next hearing of the case will be on Dec. 3.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-326595-dink-retrial-starts-with-decision-to-arrest-defendant-erhan-tuncel.html
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Sept 17 2013
17 September 2013 /YONCA POYRAZ DOÄ~^AN, Ä°STANBUL
A local court has ordered the arrest of Erhan Tuncel -- previously
acquitted of all charges related to the 2007 killing of Hrant Dink,
the late editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos -- in
the retrial of the Dink murder case amidst repeated chants calling for
justice by Hrant's Friends outside the biggest courthouse in Ä°stanbul
on Tuesday and a decision by Dink's family not to take part anymore
in the "games played by state mechanisms."
The Ä°stanbul 14th High Criminal Court began a review of the trial
after the Supreme Court of Appeals overturned in May the Ä°stanbul
court's ruling of Jan. 17, 2012, in which it dismissed the involvement
of an organized criminal network in the murder.
Tuncel, who worked as an informant for the Trabzon Police Department,
was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in the 2004 bombing
of a McDonald's restaurant in the Black Sea town of Trabzon but
was acquitted of all charges regarding the Dink murder, including
prosecutors' claims in the first trial that he was the one who ordered
Yasin Hayal, the man who was given a life sentence for soliciting
Dink's shooter, to murder him.
Hakan Bakırcıoglu, one of the lawyers representing the Dink family
in the case, said that the Supreme Court of Appeals' 9th Criminal
Chamber had indicated in its May decision that Tuncel may have played
a crucial role in the murder of Dink, so he was expected at the court
as a defendant on Tuesday.
"We expected the Ä°stanbul court to issue this arrest warrant because
of the high court's decision," he told Today's Zaman.
Tuncel's lawyer, Erdogan Soruklu, presented a doctor's report to the
court Tuncel was not able to appear due to an illness, but the lawyer
said Tuncel will be present at the next hearing.
Soruklu said that the high court's overturning of the local court's
decision was incorrect and given under pressure; therefore, it was
against the citizenship and human rights of Tuncel.
"Tuncel was stigmatized as 'big brother' in public, and the appeals
process was influenced," he said, insisting that Tuncel is not guilty
of the crime as the local court first ruled for his acquittal.
The only defendants present at the first hearing were Hayal and
Salih Hacısalihoglu.
Asked by Judge Mustafa BaÅ~_er to present his views regarding the
high court's decision, Hayal said he is not guilty of killing Dink
but Tuncel is. Hayal referred to written confessions from a former
gendarmerie intelligence officer, known as M.A., previously presented
to the court in which the officer admits he was going to kill Dink
with Tuncel.
"I have not established or run a criminal organization. I don't
know why I am being linked to an alleged criminal organization,"
Hayal told the court.
Hayal and Tuncel, along with all other defendants, were cleared
of charges of membership in a terrorist organization in the local
court's ruling.
Dink was shot and killed in broad daylight on Jan. 19, 2007, by an
ultranationalist teenager outside the offices of his newspaper in
Ä°stanbul. 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.
Bahri Belen, one of the lawyers for the Dink family, spoke in court
in reference to the organized, deep-state criminal network, but Judge
BaÅ~_er warned him, saying that the high court limited the scope of
the involvement of a criminal network to only a few people.
The lawyers representing the Dink family fear the new trial process
will stay within these limits drawn by the high court.
Fethiye Cetin, the chief lawyer on the case, said last week at a
press conference that the new process is most likely to put the case
at a worse standpoint than before because the initial trial had been
launched on the premise of a terrorist organization, but the high
court decision says it is an armed organization formed to commit a
specific crime.
Belen emphasized this point in court, indicating that the high court's
decision has been wrongly interpreted as a positive turning point
for their case.
"We don't think that this criminal network is a small one, like the
high court does," he said. "The Supreme Court of Appeals is wrong,
but it is still important that it overturned the ruling of the
local court."
Cetin explained that according to the decision of the high court,
the criminal organization involved was established in 2004 by Hayal
with political motivations and consisted of only a few other people,
including Tuncel, who were ultranationalists angry with Dink for
"insulting Turkishness," as he had been charged with, so they wanted
to punish him.
She also noted that Dink was not even sentenced in 2004 for that
crime attributed to him.
Earlier this month, Cetin published a book titled "Utanc Duyuyorum:
Hrant Dink Cinayetinin Yargısı" ("I Feel Ashamed: The Judgment of
the Hrant Dink Murder"), explaining that the high court had defined
the motivations of the organization as being "political" rather than
"terrorist" in its verdict that led to the review of the case.
Dink's lawyers had submitted a petition to the Supreme Court of
Appeals, arguing that the lower court's ruling violated the Turkish
Penal Code (TCK) by acknowledging the existence of a criminal
organization but declining to investigate it and that the court
ignored the evidence of the involvement of a terrorist organization.
Meanwhile, a written statement sent to press by the Dink family on
Tuesday said the family will no longer attend the hearings to avoid
being part of the "games played by state mechanisms."
Cetin read some parts of that statement at the hearing, indicating
that it should be in the court records because the family's decision
is directly related to the review of the case.
"I have spoken with my clients; they are the late Hrant Dink's family
and close friends. They do not want to come to hearings anymore because
they do not want to watch this game anymore. They also said that this
case does not belong only to their family but to others who would like
to see a transparent state and peace, so for that reason they would
like us, the lawyers, to follow the case closely on their behalf,"
she said.
The family's statement made headlines today in some Turkish newspapers
because some members of the Dink family regularly attended the hearings
of the first trial and their decision represents a turning point that
they have lost faith in the justice system.
Part of the statement by the Dink family, dated Sept. 16, reads: "In
order not to become dirtier, we will not step into those courthouses
where lies are so easily said, force so easily used, and rightfulness,
truth, rights and justice so easily stepped on. ... Since the day
Hrant Dink was slain on Jan. 19, 2007, the system in Turkey, with
its judiciary, police, military, civilian bureaucracy and political
institutions, have made fun of us. ... On the other hand, opposition
parties, with their attitude toward Article 301 and support for
ultranationalist feelings and breeding hitmen, were the main actors
in the climate of murder. ... We will be where we are and where are
supposed be: on the side of those who were killed by the sticks of
the state."
The next hearing of the case will be on Dec. 3.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-326595-dink-retrial-starts-with-decision-to-arrest-defendant-erhan-tuncel.html