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Legal Monitor Worldwide
December 6, 2014 Saturday
Lawyers ask for records after Y�±lmazer's claim Dink was profiled
The lawyers of assassinated Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink
have filed a petition asking for any official records or details of
police gathering intelligence against Dink after former Police Chief
Ali Fuat Y�±lmazer claimed there was a document containing intelligence
against Dink in the police archive.
Dink was assassinated in broad daylight outside the office of his Agos
newspaper on Jan. 17, 2007.
Ex-police chief Y�±lmazer testified as a suspect in the investigation
into the killing of Dink on Thursday. According to media reports, when
asked by the prosecutor whether any intelligence was collected against
Dink, Y�±lmazer said: "There wasan [intelligence] file opened on Hrant
Dink in the archives at the Intelligence Unit [of the National Police
Department]. As I remember, there was a document about Hrant Dink
because of his [alleged] leftist activities."
The media reports say Dink's lawyers filed a petition at the �°stanbul
Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. Citing Y�±lmazer's testimony, the
lawyers reportedly asked the prosecutor's office to demand the
�°stanbul Police Department and the Intelligence Unit of the National
Police Department share any official records on Dink, information
collected about Dink or the details of intelligence activities
performed against Dink.
Content of Y�±lmazer's testimony
Y�±lmazer, who is currently behind bars on wiretapping charges, had
testified to Prosecutor Yusuf Hakk�± Do��an for five hours and denied
any kind of link with the murder.
The content of Y�±lmazer's testimony was covered in the Turkish media
on Friday. According to the media reports, Y�±lmazer said he cannot be
held responsible for the killing of Dink as he was not even serving in
�°stanbul when the incident occurred, adding that the �°stanbul Police
Department is at fault for failing to protect Dink despite them
possessing intelligence before his assassination.
He also said that he was the chief of Branch C of the Intelligence
Unit of the Ankara Police Department when the assassination took
place, and that the accusations against him were put forward in
relation to two statements saying that Dink was in danger. These
statements were sent to Branch C by the Trabzon Police Department.
He stated that he was on duty abroad when the two statements, sent by
former chief of the Intelligence Unit of the National Police
Department, Ramazan Akyürek, arrived at the branch on Feb. 17, 2006,
and he therefore did not see them.
Y�±lmazer maintained that the statements should have been directed to
his attention, but the presentation of those two statements to me was
not [officially] necessary and the sharing of these reports depended
on the consent of Necmettin Emre, who was the deputy chief of the
intelligence unit at the time. If I had been him, I would have present
them to the man in my position. There was a difference in the two
intelligence statements, and when asked why by the prosecutor,
Y�±lmazer reportedly said that only Engin Dinç, who was the chief of
the intelligence unit of the Trabzon Police Department at the time,
knows why the two statements differed. Media reports indicated that
the first statement said an activity that will cause sensation" would
take place and the other directly said that Dink "will be killed."
Y�±lmazer maintained that regardless of the versions of these
statements, the necessary security measures should have been taken by
the �°stanbul police, adding that an intelligence operation should have
also been made regarding the issue by the Trabzon police.
He said a perception operation is being conducted against his name and
that the two statements were actually directed to the �°stanbul Police
Department. He added that the statements were merely sent to his
branch to keep them informed and that it was the �°stanbul Police
Department who was responsible in taking the necessary security
measures to protect Dink. 2014 Legal Monitor Worldwide.
December 6, 2014 Saturday
Lawyers ask for records after Y�±lmazer's claim Dink was profiled
The lawyers of assassinated Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink
have filed a petition asking for any official records or details of
police gathering intelligence against Dink after former Police Chief
Ali Fuat Y�±lmazer claimed there was a document containing intelligence
against Dink in the police archive.
Dink was assassinated in broad daylight outside the office of his Agos
newspaper on Jan. 17, 2007.
Ex-police chief Y�±lmazer testified as a suspect in the investigation
into the killing of Dink on Thursday. According to media reports, when
asked by the prosecutor whether any intelligence was collected against
Dink, Y�±lmazer said: "There wasan [intelligence] file opened on Hrant
Dink in the archives at the Intelligence Unit [of the National Police
Department]. As I remember, there was a document about Hrant Dink
because of his [alleged] leftist activities."
The media reports say Dink's lawyers filed a petition at the �°stanbul
Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. Citing Y�±lmazer's testimony, the
lawyers reportedly asked the prosecutor's office to demand the
�°stanbul Police Department and the Intelligence Unit of the National
Police Department share any official records on Dink, information
collected about Dink or the details of intelligence activities
performed against Dink.
Content of Y�±lmazer's testimony
Y�±lmazer, who is currently behind bars on wiretapping charges, had
testified to Prosecutor Yusuf Hakk�± Do��an for five hours and denied
any kind of link with the murder.
The content of Y�±lmazer's testimony was covered in the Turkish media
on Friday. According to the media reports, Y�±lmazer said he cannot be
held responsible for the killing of Dink as he was not even serving in
�°stanbul when the incident occurred, adding that the �°stanbul Police
Department is at fault for failing to protect Dink despite them
possessing intelligence before his assassination.
He also said that he was the chief of Branch C of the Intelligence
Unit of the Ankara Police Department when the assassination took
place, and that the accusations against him were put forward in
relation to two statements saying that Dink was in danger. These
statements were sent to Branch C by the Trabzon Police Department.
He stated that he was on duty abroad when the two statements, sent by
former chief of the Intelligence Unit of the National Police
Department, Ramazan Akyürek, arrived at the branch on Feb. 17, 2006,
and he therefore did not see them.
Y�±lmazer maintained that the statements should have been directed to
his attention, but the presentation of those two statements to me was
not [officially] necessary and the sharing of these reports depended
on the consent of Necmettin Emre, who was the deputy chief of the
intelligence unit at the time. If I had been him, I would have present
them to the man in my position. There was a difference in the two
intelligence statements, and when asked why by the prosecutor,
Y�±lmazer reportedly said that only Engin Dinç, who was the chief of
the intelligence unit of the Trabzon Police Department at the time,
knows why the two statements differed. Media reports indicated that
the first statement said an activity that will cause sensation" would
take place and the other directly said that Dink "will be killed."
Y�±lmazer maintained that regardless of the versions of these
statements, the necessary security measures should have been taken by
the �°stanbul police, adding that an intelligence operation should have
also been made regarding the issue by the Trabzon police.
He said a perception operation is being conducted against his name and
that the two statements were actually directed to the �°stanbul Police
Department. He added that the statements were merely sent to his
branch to keep them informed and that it was the �°stanbul Police
Department who was responsible in taking the necessary security
measures to protect Dink. 2014 Legal Monitor Worldwide.