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FORMER TRABZON POLICE CHIEF SUMMONED TO TESTIFY IN DINK MURDER TRIAL
Cihan News Agency, Turkey
Dec 9 2014
TRABZON - 09.12.2014 13:34:56
Former Trabzon Police Chief ReÅ~_at Altay has been summoned by
Prosecutor Yusuf Hakkı Dogan to testify in the trial into the murder
of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.
Dink was assassinated in broad daylight outside the office of his
Agos newspaper on Jan. 17, 2007.
Media reports say the prosecutor will also request that Yasin Hayal,
a convict in the ongoing trial, and Erhan Tuncel, who was earlier
found not guilty of the Dink murder, testify as part of the ongoing
investigation.
When he testified in January 2012, Tuncel had accused former Trabzon
Police Chief Altay of destroying all the evidence concerning the
Dink murder.
According to a media report, Prosecutor Dogan also listened to the
testimony of a police officer, Bahadır Tekin, on Monday. Tekin was
asked about claims saying that he doctored a report to show he had
checked out an address that was mentioned in an intelligence report
sent from the Trabzon Police Department on Feb. 17, 2006. The doctored
report also said one of Tekin's colleagues, Ozcan Ozkan, went with him
to scope out the address, which was located in Ä°stanbul's Umraniye
district, even though neither had gone there.
The intelligence report sent by Trabzon police had warned that Hayal --
now a convict in the Dink murder trial -- was planning to assassinate
Dink. There are claims that Tekin had doctored his own report after
the murder took place in order to make it seem as if he had gone
to scope out the address before the murder. Tekin denied all claims
directed at him in his testimony, according to media reports.
As part of the same investigation, two former heads of the intelligence
unit of the National Police Department -- Sabri Uzun and Ramazan
Akyurek -- and a former police chief, Ali Fuat Yılmazer, testified as
suspects. Other high-profile figures have been called to testify as
suspects, including former Ä°stanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah,
former İstanbul Vice Governor Ergun Gungör and former İstanbul
Police Department Intelligence Unit Chief Ahmet Ä°lhan Guler.
Furthermore, Ogun Samast, who was sentenced to 21 years and six months
in prison in 2011 for assassinating Dink, also testified as a witness
in the ongoing investigation into the murder on Dec. 5. Samast had
sent a letter to Prosecutor Dogan saying he wanted to speak about
the murder. The prosecutor decided to listen to Samast as a witness
in the investigation.
Dink was shot and killed by an ultra-nationalist teenager seven years
ago. Samast and 18 others were brought to trial. During this time,
the lawyers for the Dink family and the co-plaintiffs in the case
presented evidence indicating that Samast did not act alone. Hayal was
given life in prison for inciting Samast to murder. However, Tuncel,
who worked as an informant for the Trabzon Police Department and
was the man accused of initiating the effort to have Dink murdered,
was found not guilty of the murder.
http://en.cihan.com.tr/news/Former-Trabzon-police-chief-summoned-to-testify-in-Dink-murder-trial_7431-CHMTYxNzQzMS8xMDA1
Cihan News Agency, Turkey
Dec 9 2014
TRABZON - 09.12.2014 13:34:56
Former Trabzon Police Chief ReÅ~_at Altay has been summoned by
Prosecutor Yusuf Hakkı Dogan to testify in the trial into the murder
of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.
Dink was assassinated in broad daylight outside the office of his
Agos newspaper on Jan. 17, 2007.
Media reports say the prosecutor will also request that Yasin Hayal,
a convict in the ongoing trial, and Erhan Tuncel, who was earlier
found not guilty of the Dink murder, testify as part of the ongoing
investigation.
When he testified in January 2012, Tuncel had accused former Trabzon
Police Chief Altay of destroying all the evidence concerning the
Dink murder.
According to a media report, Prosecutor Dogan also listened to the
testimony of a police officer, Bahadır Tekin, on Monday. Tekin was
asked about claims saying that he doctored a report to show he had
checked out an address that was mentioned in an intelligence report
sent from the Trabzon Police Department on Feb. 17, 2006. The doctored
report also said one of Tekin's colleagues, Ozcan Ozkan, went with him
to scope out the address, which was located in Ä°stanbul's Umraniye
district, even though neither had gone there.
The intelligence report sent by Trabzon police had warned that Hayal --
now a convict in the Dink murder trial -- was planning to assassinate
Dink. There are claims that Tekin had doctored his own report after
the murder took place in order to make it seem as if he had gone
to scope out the address before the murder. Tekin denied all claims
directed at him in his testimony, according to media reports.
As part of the same investigation, two former heads of the intelligence
unit of the National Police Department -- Sabri Uzun and Ramazan
Akyurek -- and a former police chief, Ali Fuat Yılmazer, testified as
suspects. Other high-profile figures have been called to testify as
suspects, including former Ä°stanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah,
former İstanbul Vice Governor Ergun Gungör and former İstanbul
Police Department Intelligence Unit Chief Ahmet Ä°lhan Guler.
Furthermore, Ogun Samast, who was sentenced to 21 years and six months
in prison in 2011 for assassinating Dink, also testified as a witness
in the ongoing investigation into the murder on Dec. 5. Samast had
sent a letter to Prosecutor Dogan saying he wanted to speak about
the murder. The prosecutor decided to listen to Samast as a witness
in the investigation.
Dink was shot and killed by an ultra-nationalist teenager seven years
ago. Samast and 18 others were brought to trial. During this time,
the lawyers for the Dink family and the co-plaintiffs in the case
presented evidence indicating that Samast did not act alone. Hayal was
given life in prison for inciting Samast to murder. However, Tuncel,
who worked as an informant for the Trabzon Police Department and
was the man accused of initiating the effort to have Dink murdered,
was found not guilty of the murder.
http://en.cihan.com.tr/news/Former-Trabzon-police-chief-summoned-to-testify-in-Dink-murder-trial_7431-CHMTYxNzQzMS8xMDA1