Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

ANKARA: Release Of Suspects Part Of Gov't Plan To Mend Ties With Erg

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • ANKARA: Release Of Suspects Part Of Gov't Plan To Mend Ties With Erg

    RELEASE OF SUSPECTS PART OF GOV'T PLAN TO MEND TIES WITH ERGENEKON, ANALYSTS SAY

    Today's Zaman, Turkey
    March 10 2014

    10 March 2014 /TODAY'S ZAMAN, ANKARA

    The recent release and pending trial of suspects in the brutal killing
    of three Christians at the Zirve Publishing House as well as that
    of the key suspect in the 2007 murder of Hrant Dink is part of a
    government strategy to mend ties with individuals connected to the
    Ergenekon case, analysts say.

    "This is an effort [on the part of the government] to make up with
    [members of society connected with] the Ergenekon [case]," Orhan Kemal
    Cengiz, a lawyer and expert in human rights cases, told Today's Zaman.

    According to Cengiz, the government, which has been embattled by a
    sweeping graft probe made public on Dec. 17, wants to give a message
    to society that it, like those convicted the Ergenekon and Balyoz
    coup cases, is a victim. Cengiz believes the government's move to
    hastily pass a law that paved the way for the suspects' release
    is part of a strategy by which the government seeks to mend ties
    with those convicted in the Ergenekon case and to present itself
    as a victim of members of the police force and the judiciary who
    launched a recent graft investigation into widespread government
    corruption. Cengiz believes that there are people in the Ergenekon
    case who were unjustly imprisoned, but that the government's strategy
    has dangerous implications for democracy in Turkey.

    As per a recently passed law that decreased the maximum period
    of detention to five years, five suspects in the Zirve Publishing
    House case along with one of the key suspects in the murder of Dink,
    a Turkish-Armenian journalist killed in 2007, were also released
    pending trial on Friday, a move that has made Christians in Turkey
    concerned for their safety.

    As part of its smear campaign against the Hizmet movement, inspired by
    Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen, the government claims that it
    is under attack by sympathizers of the Hizmet movement. Since the graft
    probe, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other members of his
    government have repeatedly implicated the Hizmet movement, referring
    to it as a "parallel structure" nested within the judiciary and the
    police force. The government has not provided any evidence of a coup
    underway, but on numerous occasions, the prime minister has described
    the ongoing corruption investigation as a plot against the government.

    Three Christians, Necati Aydın, Ugur Yuksel and German national
    Tilmann Ekkehart Geske were killed on April 18, 2007, at the Zirve
    Publishing House in Malatya. The victims all had their throats slit.

    The suspects of the brutal crime, Emre Gunaydın, Abuzer Yıldırım,
    Cuma Ozdemir, Hamit Ceker and Salih Gurler, for whom three aggravated
    life sentences have been demanded, were released on probation by
    the Malatya 1st High Criminal Court late on Friday night. Four
    of the suspects in the Zirve case were apprehended at the scene
    and immediately taken into custody, while the fifth suspect, Emre
    Gunaydın, jumped from a third-story window in a failed attempt to
    escape from police. He was also taken into custody after being treated
    for injuries.

    In a statement on Monday, the Justice Ministry said four of the
    suspects are being monitored by electronic bracelets; the fifth suspect
    lives in a village where GSM lines cannot receive signals, so work
    is underway activate his electronic bracelet through a landline.

    Cengiz said: "But in this big strategy, this [release of the murderers
    of innocent people] is seen just as a minor accident. And the big
    strategy is dangerous in terms of democracy and human rights in
    Turkey." "They [the government] passed the law without taking the
    consequences into account," added Cengiz, who is also a columnist
    for Today's Zaman.

    Following the entry into effect of the law, anyone who has been in
    prison for five years without a final verdict on their case will be
    released. In addition to several people who were allegedly involved
    in the Ergenekon case, Erhan Tuncel, a key suspect in the murder of
    Dink was also released on Friday. Dink was the editor-in-chief of
    the İstanbul-based Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos.

    Erdal Dogan, one of the victims' lawyers, also believes that the
    recently passed law may be part of a negotiation with people who
    defend those convicted in the Ergenekon case. "There seems to be a
    political negotiation with Ergenekon following [the graft probe that
    went public on] Dec. 17," Dogan told Today's Zaman.

    It has been seven years since the Zirve case was first brought before
    court. Both Cengiz and Dogan are of the opinion that the Zirve case was
    intentionally and unnecessarily delayed. "The main reason is that the
    network behind the killing [connected to Ergenekon] was only sought
    after a couple of years went by. At the beginning [of the case],
    it was only hit men who were tried," Cengiz said.

    According to Dogan, the replacement of some of the judges and
    prosecutors of the case in 2012 is also another major reason why
    the case has taken so long. "The prosecutor who linked the case to
    Ergenekon was also removed at the time," he informed.

    With regard to advice notes submitted to the prosecutor's office about
    a number of members of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) in Malatya
    allegedly behind the crime, which were originally not taken into
    account, Cengiz said: "The connection with the Ergenekon [criminal
    organization] could have been made much earlier. The state puts up
    resistance at every stage [of the case]. Behind this case, a network
    of relations involving a deep state within the state exists," he said.

    Susanne Geske, the widow of the victim Tilmann Geske, told Today's
    Zaman that she sees the release of suspects as unjust. Sharing that
    they have started to feel threated following the release, Geske, who
    lives with her children in Malatya, said: "It is a cause of distrust
    [towards justice] that the murderers were released [before the court
    issued its final verdict]. This decision has diminished people's
    trust in the law."

    The case will be transferred to another court, as the recently
    passed law has also abolished specially authorized courts. Dogan
    is concerned that the case might be dragged on even further if the
    judges and prosecutors are replaced while the case is transferred to
    another court.

    The Association of Protestant Churches of Turkey expressed its concern
    over the court's decision in a written statement on Saturday. Noting
    that families of the victims and activists from non-governmental
    organizations (NGOs) had been threatened by the suspects throughout
    the duration of the case's hearings, the statement read: "As things
    stand, those who have been threatened are starting to feel rather
    uneasy. The releases have deeply saddened Christians [in Turkey]
    and led to them losing faith in [the] justice [system]."

    http://www.todayszaman.com/news-341732-release-of-suspects-part-of-govt-plan-to-mend-ties-with-ergenekon-analysts-say.html

Working...
X