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TOP COURT STRESSES 'INEFFECTIVE INVESTIGATION' IN DINK DECISION
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Nov 12 2014
November 12, 2014, Wednesday/ 14:12:57/ TODAY'S ZAMAN / ISTANBUL
Turkey's Constitutional Court has announced its reasoned decision
concerning an earlier ruling on an investigation into the 2007 murder
of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, saying officials failed
to carry out the investigation effectively and objectively.
The Constitutional Court, in a unanimous decision in July, found that
the rights of the family of journalist Dink were violated because
the murder investigation had not been conducted effectively.
The high court was reviewing an application filed by the Dink family.
It established that the murder investigation had not been conducted
effectively and that judicial authorities failed to properly inform
the family about the developments in the case.
The top court's reasoned opinion on the ruling was published in the
Official Gazette on Wednesday.
"It is impossible to say that the investigations into the public
officials who allegedly have responsibility in the run-up of Dink's
murder were carried out in an objective, effective, speedy and
organized manner," the court said. "It should be acknowledged that
this investigation which was conducted in a way that violated the
rights [of the Dink family] was ineffective as a whole."
The court underlined that the state should exert great effort in
investigations like the Dink murder case as it also is responsible
in failing to stop such killings through preventive measures.
"The state should work with great effort and speed in such cases
and should first examine the conditions that led to the incident
and failures in the functioning of its relevant bodies. Secondly,
the state itself should open an investigation to find state officials
who somehow played a role in the chain of events," it added.
Dink, the late editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian weekly
Agos, 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 that refers to a
shadowy group of military and civilian bureaucrats believed to have
links with organized crime.
Although it has been more than seven years since the assassination,
no satisfactory outcome has been produced by the trial.
On Jan. 17, 2012, the 14th Specially Authorized High Criminal Court
acquitted all the suspects in the case of the charge of membership in
a terrorist organization. The Chief Prosecutor's Office of the Supreme
Court of Appeals challenged the ruling, arguing that the suspects
had not acted alone but as part of a criminal organization. Later,
the 9th Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals reversed
the acquittal of the suspects on charges of membership in a criminal
organization. The chamber ruled that the suspects should be retried
on this charge.
http://www.todayszaman.com/national_top-court-stresses-ineffective-investigation-in-dink-decision_364152.html
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Nov 12 2014
November 12, 2014, Wednesday/ 14:12:57/ TODAY'S ZAMAN / ISTANBUL
Turkey's Constitutional Court has announced its reasoned decision
concerning an earlier ruling on an investigation into the 2007 murder
of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, saying officials failed
to carry out the investigation effectively and objectively.
The Constitutional Court, in a unanimous decision in July, found that
the rights of the family of journalist Dink were violated because
the murder investigation had not been conducted effectively.
The high court was reviewing an application filed by the Dink family.
It established that the murder investigation had not been conducted
effectively and that judicial authorities failed to properly inform
the family about the developments in the case.
The top court's reasoned opinion on the ruling was published in the
Official Gazette on Wednesday.
"It is impossible to say that the investigations into the public
officials who allegedly have responsibility in the run-up of Dink's
murder were carried out in an objective, effective, speedy and
organized manner," the court said. "It should be acknowledged that
this investigation which was conducted in a way that violated the
rights [of the Dink family] was ineffective as a whole."
The court underlined that the state should exert great effort in
investigations like the Dink murder case as it also is responsible
in failing to stop such killings through preventive measures.
"The state should work with great effort and speed in such cases
and should first examine the conditions that led to the incident
and failures in the functioning of its relevant bodies. Secondly,
the state itself should open an investigation to find state officials
who somehow played a role in the chain of events," it added.
Dink, the late editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian weekly
Agos, 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 that refers to a
shadowy group of military and civilian bureaucrats believed to have
links with organized crime.
Although it has been more than seven years since the assassination,
no satisfactory outcome has been produced by the trial.
On Jan. 17, 2012, the 14th Specially Authorized High Criminal Court
acquitted all the suspects in the case of the charge of membership in
a terrorist organization. The Chief Prosecutor's Office of the Supreme
Court of Appeals challenged the ruling, arguing that the suspects
had not acted alone but as part of a criminal organization. Later,
the 9th Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals reversed
the acquittal of the suspects on charges of membership in a criminal
organization. The chamber ruled that the suspects should be retried
on this charge.
http://www.todayszaman.com/national_top-court-stresses-ineffective-investigation-in-dink-decision_364152.html