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COURT REJECTS ARREST WARRANT FOR FORMER POLICE OFFICER OVER DINK'S MURDER
Daily Sabah, Turkey
Dec 24 2014
DAILY SABAH
An Istanbul court yesterday rejected an arrest warrant sought by a
prosecutor for Faruk Sarı, the former intelligence department director
for the Turkish National Police's Trabzon branch, over his failure
to prevent the 2007 murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.
It is the first time that an arrest warrant for a law enforcement
official has been sought in the case, where police officers and
prosecutors with reported links to the controversial Gulen Movement
have been accused of covering up their involvement in the murder
perpetrated by 17-year-old Ogun Samast. The teen was convicted for
shooting and killing Dink in Istanbul and had recently testified to the
prosecutor investigating the murder. He said top police chiefs were
aware of the murder plot but did not do anything; on the contrary,
they encouraged him.
Prosecutor Gökalp Kökcu interrogated Sarı, who served as the
intelligence unit's head in Samast's hometown of Trabzon in northern
Turkey, on charges of assisting manslaughter by neglecting intelligence
concerning the murder, despite having a responsibility to prevent
it. He was released pending trial by the court, which banned him from
traveling abroad.
Testifying on Dec. 5, Samast said Ali Fuat Yılmazer, deputy director
of Istanbul's police intelligence department, and Ramazan Akyurek,
Turkish National Police's intelligence department director at the
time of the murder, knew about the plot to murder Dink and backed
him and Yasin Hayal who masterminded the plot.
The prosecutor's office in Istanbul previously questioned top police
intelligence officials including Sabri Uzun, Akyurek and Yılmazer.
Moreover, the trio is officially referred to as "suspects" in the
prosecutor's case.
An investigation by previous prosecutors who worked on the murder case
revealed that they dismissed allegations about Akyurek and Yılmazer.
Uzun, who was head of the National Police Intelligence Department,
had claimed his subordinates had concealed evidence about the murder
of Dink. Questioned about the murder, Uzun said Yılmazer hid an
intelligence report from him regarding a plot to kill Dink.
Yılmazer is currently in prison for a separate case involving illegal
wiretapping, while Akyurek was removed from duty amid a major reshuffle
among Turkish law enforcement last year. Earlier, he was suspended
over allegations of destroying and leaking secret documents regarding
the Dink investigation. Testifying to prosecutors recently, Akyurek
admitted that he became aware of the planned murder of Dink after
one of his subordinates presented him with an intelligence report. He
told prosecutors he did not remember the details and thought that the
Istanbul and Trabzon police directorate had "taken necessary measures."
Media outlets claim both Akyurek and Yılmazer are affiliated with
the "parallel state," the name used to describe infiltrators of the
controversial Gulen Movement in the police and judiciary. The movement,
headed by U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, is accused of attempting
to overthrow the government and imprison its critics by launching
operations by prosecutors and police loyal to them through fabricated
and planted evidence implicating defendants in a number of cases.
Nedim Å~^ener, a journalist who was imprisoned on what he called
trumped-up charges after penning a book about a cover-up of
the police's role in the murder, had claimed infiltrators in law
enforcement who were loyal to the Gulen Movement had an active role in
Dink's murder. Sarı, Yılmazer and Akyurek, along with other police
officials, had filed a lawsuit against Å~^ener over his allegations,
but he was later acquitted.
http://www.dailysabah.com/investigations/2014/12/25/court-rejects-arrest-warrant-for-former-police-officer-over-dinks-murder
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Daily Sabah, Turkey
Dec 24 2014
DAILY SABAH
An Istanbul court yesterday rejected an arrest warrant sought by a
prosecutor for Faruk Sarı, the former intelligence department director
for the Turkish National Police's Trabzon branch, over his failure
to prevent the 2007 murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.
It is the first time that an arrest warrant for a law enforcement
official has been sought in the case, where police officers and
prosecutors with reported links to the controversial Gulen Movement
have been accused of covering up their involvement in the murder
perpetrated by 17-year-old Ogun Samast. The teen was convicted for
shooting and killing Dink in Istanbul and had recently testified to the
prosecutor investigating the murder. He said top police chiefs were
aware of the murder plot but did not do anything; on the contrary,
they encouraged him.
Prosecutor Gökalp Kökcu interrogated Sarı, who served as the
intelligence unit's head in Samast's hometown of Trabzon in northern
Turkey, on charges of assisting manslaughter by neglecting intelligence
concerning the murder, despite having a responsibility to prevent
it. He was released pending trial by the court, which banned him from
traveling abroad.
Testifying on Dec. 5, Samast said Ali Fuat Yılmazer, deputy director
of Istanbul's police intelligence department, and Ramazan Akyurek,
Turkish National Police's intelligence department director at the
time of the murder, knew about the plot to murder Dink and backed
him and Yasin Hayal who masterminded the plot.
The prosecutor's office in Istanbul previously questioned top police
intelligence officials including Sabri Uzun, Akyurek and Yılmazer.
Moreover, the trio is officially referred to as "suspects" in the
prosecutor's case.
An investigation by previous prosecutors who worked on the murder case
revealed that they dismissed allegations about Akyurek and Yılmazer.
Uzun, who was head of the National Police Intelligence Department,
had claimed his subordinates had concealed evidence about the murder
of Dink. Questioned about the murder, Uzun said Yılmazer hid an
intelligence report from him regarding a plot to kill Dink.
Yılmazer is currently in prison for a separate case involving illegal
wiretapping, while Akyurek was removed from duty amid a major reshuffle
among Turkish law enforcement last year. Earlier, he was suspended
over allegations of destroying and leaking secret documents regarding
the Dink investigation. Testifying to prosecutors recently, Akyurek
admitted that he became aware of the planned murder of Dink after
one of his subordinates presented him with an intelligence report. He
told prosecutors he did not remember the details and thought that the
Istanbul and Trabzon police directorate had "taken necessary measures."
Media outlets claim both Akyurek and Yılmazer are affiliated with
the "parallel state," the name used to describe infiltrators of the
controversial Gulen Movement in the police and judiciary. The movement,
headed by U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, is accused of attempting
to overthrow the government and imprison its critics by launching
operations by prosecutors and police loyal to them through fabricated
and planted evidence implicating defendants in a number of cases.
Nedim Å~^ener, a journalist who was imprisoned on what he called
trumped-up charges after penning a book about a cover-up of
the police's role in the murder, had claimed infiltrators in law
enforcement who were loyal to the Gulen Movement had an active role in
Dink's murder. Sarı, Yılmazer and Akyurek, along with other police
officials, had filed a lawsuit against Å~^ener over his allegations,
but he was later acquitted.
http://www.dailysabah.com/investigations/2014/12/25/court-rejects-arrest-warrant-for-former-police-officer-over-dinks-murder
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress