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ARREST WARRANT ISSUED FOR POLICE OFFICERS OVER DINK'S MURDER
Daily Sabah, Turkey
Jan 13 2015
YUSUF ZIYA DURMUÅ~^
ISTANBUL
An arrest warrant was issued yesterday for two police officers charged
with misconduct for failing to prevent the 2007 murder of journalist
Hrant Dink despite knowing of the murder plot beforehand
A court in Istanbul yesterday approved a prosecutor's request for the
capture of Muhittin Zenit and Ozkan Mumcu, two police officers from
the Turkish National Police's intelligence department. It is the first
time that arrest warrants have been issued for police officials in the
investigation of the murder of the Turkish-Armenian journalist. The
case sparked controversy after allegations that a number of police
chiefs, including those with ties to the Gulen Movement, ignored the
intelligence regarding the murder plot.
Muhittin Zenit and Ozkan Mumcu were police officers at the Trabzon
branch of the Turkish National Police at the time of the murder. Ogun
Samast, a convicted murderer of the outspoken journalist and a native
of Trabzon in northern Turkey, had traveled to Istanbul from his
hometown. According to an indictment by the prosecutor investigating
the murder, several police officers were aware of the plot.
Zenit and Mumcu were recently released by a court that imposed a ban
on their travel abroad after they testified in the investigation. Two
police officers were charged with causing death by negligence and
misconduct by Prosecutor Gökalp Kökcu after they were questioned
on December 26, 2014.
The prosecutor objected to the release and appealed to the court.
Another court looking into the case ruled for issuing arrest warrants
for the two policemen whose whereabouts remain unknown.
Turkish media outlets had released a phone recording, reportedly
between Zenit and Erhan Tuncel, the alleged mastermind of the murder
plot. Tuncel was working as a police informant prior to the murder.
The phone conversation shows Zenit had knowledge of the murder but
did not inform Istanbul police.
Following a removal of a ban on the investigation of public officials
in relation to the case in June, the investigation into the murder was
renewed and officials, including the former Istanbul police chief,
the deputy governor and other high-ranking officials in the city at
the time of the murder were summoned for questioning.
The prosecutors also interrogated former police intelligence director
Sabri Uzun and intelligence chiefs Ramazan Akyurek and Ali Fuat
Yılmazer, two senior officials with reported links to the Gulen
Movement. The Gulen Movement, run by U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen,
is accused of running a "state within state" through its infiltrators
in the police and the judiciary. The movement is reportedly behind
controversial trials that have seen the imprisonment of military
officers, journalists and critics of the group.
An investigation by previous prosecutors who worked on the murder case
revealed that they dismissed allegations about Akyurek and Yılmazer.
Sabri Uzun, who was head of the National Police Intelligence
Department, had claimed his subordinates hid tip-offs warning 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
in 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 was aware of a planned murder regarding 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."
Ogun Samast, who is currently in an Istanbul prison for Dink's murder,
told prosecutors that Trabzon police helped him and his accomplices
and said Ali Fuat Yılmazer and Ramazan Akyurek had knowledge of the
plot in his new testimony last year.
http://www.dailysabah.com/nation/2015/01/13/arrest-warrant-issued-for-police-officers-over-dinks-murder
From: Baghdasarian
Daily Sabah, Turkey
Jan 13 2015
YUSUF ZIYA DURMUÅ~^
ISTANBUL
An arrest warrant was issued yesterday for two police officers charged
with misconduct for failing to prevent the 2007 murder of journalist
Hrant Dink despite knowing of the murder plot beforehand
A court in Istanbul yesterday approved a prosecutor's request for the
capture of Muhittin Zenit and Ozkan Mumcu, two police officers from
the Turkish National Police's intelligence department. It is the first
time that arrest warrants have been issued for police officials in the
investigation of the murder of the Turkish-Armenian journalist. The
case sparked controversy after allegations that a number of police
chiefs, including those with ties to the Gulen Movement, ignored the
intelligence regarding the murder plot.
Muhittin Zenit and Ozkan Mumcu were police officers at the Trabzon
branch of the Turkish National Police at the time of the murder. Ogun
Samast, a convicted murderer of the outspoken journalist and a native
of Trabzon in northern Turkey, had traveled to Istanbul from his
hometown. According to an indictment by the prosecutor investigating
the murder, several police officers were aware of the plot.
Zenit and Mumcu were recently released by a court that imposed a ban
on their travel abroad after they testified in the investigation. Two
police officers were charged with causing death by negligence and
misconduct by Prosecutor Gökalp Kökcu after they were questioned
on December 26, 2014.
The prosecutor objected to the release and appealed to the court.
Another court looking into the case ruled for issuing arrest warrants
for the two policemen whose whereabouts remain unknown.
Turkish media outlets had released a phone recording, reportedly
between Zenit and Erhan Tuncel, the alleged mastermind of the murder
plot. Tuncel was working as a police informant prior to the murder.
The phone conversation shows Zenit had knowledge of the murder but
did not inform Istanbul police.
Following a removal of a ban on the investigation of public officials
in relation to the case in June, the investigation into the murder was
renewed and officials, including the former Istanbul police chief,
the deputy governor and other high-ranking officials in the city at
the time of the murder were summoned for questioning.
The prosecutors also interrogated former police intelligence director
Sabri Uzun and intelligence chiefs Ramazan Akyurek and Ali Fuat
Yılmazer, two senior officials with reported links to the Gulen
Movement. The Gulen Movement, run by U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen,
is accused of running a "state within state" through its infiltrators
in the police and the judiciary. The movement is reportedly behind
controversial trials that have seen the imprisonment of military
officers, journalists and critics of the group.
An investigation by previous prosecutors who worked on the murder case
revealed that they dismissed allegations about Akyurek and Yılmazer.
Sabri Uzun, who was head of the National Police Intelligence
Department, had claimed his subordinates hid tip-offs warning 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
in 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 was aware of a planned murder regarding 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."
Ogun Samast, who is currently in an Istanbul prison for Dink's murder,
told prosecutors that Trabzon police helped him and his accomplices
and said Ali Fuat Yılmazer and Ramazan Akyurek had knowledge of the
plot in his new testimony last year.
http://www.dailysabah.com/nation/2015/01/13/arrest-warrant-issued-for-police-officers-over-dinks-murder
From: Baghdasarian