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POLICE OFFICERS TESTIFYING IN DINK MURDER CASE POINT TO POLICE INTEL CHIEF
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Jan 26 2015
Three former police officials who were working in the intelligence
unit of the Trabzon Police Department at the time of the 2007 murder
of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink have pointed to the current
head of the National Police Department's intelligence unit as the
top official responsible for the failure to prevent the murder from
taking place, a Turkish daily reported on Monday.
As the investigation into Dink's murder deepens, eyes are now on
the chief of the National Police Department's intelligence unit,
Engin Dinc, who headed the intelligence unit in Trabzon at the time
of the killing, after several people working under him were arrested
on charges of involvement in the murder.
Three police officials who had worked under Dinc in the intelligence
unit of the Trabzon Police Department were recently arrested as part
of an expanded probe into the killing of Dink. Dinc has been promoted
since then and is now the chief of the National Police Department's
intelligence unit.
The three police officials -- Ercan Demir, Ozkan Mumcu and Muhittin
Zenit -- said in their testimonies that Dinc was the highest authority
at the Trabzon Police Department's intelligence unit. According to a
report in the Taraf daily on Monday, Demir said during his testimony,
"The authority to inform provincial police departments about suspects
or conduct operations against suspects belonged to Engin [Dinc]."
Zenit also reportedly said, "Dinc and his accomplices laid a plot
against me by making me call Erhan [Tuncel]."
Sound recordings of a phone conversation between Zenit and Tuncel,
who worked as an informant for the Trabzon Police Department and was
accused of initiating the effort to have Dink murdered, have been
leaked to the media. The conversation suggests that Zenit knew about
the plot to murder Dink beforehand.
Whether the investigation will be expanded to include Dinc as a suspect
remains a question. A news report published in Taraf last week said
top state authorities have agreed not to allow him to be prosecuted
even though the testimony of his associates points to his involvement.
Taraf also reported on Monday that the government has held Interior
Minister Efkan Ala responsible for the recent crisis involving the
intelligence unit head. Ala is being criticized for not informing the
Prime Ministry and the president's office over Dinc's involvement in
the case before it was made public.
An Ä°stanbul court arrested former Cizre Police Chief Ercan Demir,
who turned himself in on Monday after a warrant for his arrest was
issued on Jan. 16.
Zenit and Mumcu, deputy commissioner of the Trabzon Police Department,
were arrested on Jan. 13 on charges of negligence and misconduct in
Dink's murder. Demir's case has garnered attention due to the fact
that he had been appointed head of the police department in the
restive southeastern town of Cizre only a couple of weeks before a
warrant for his arrest was issued.
Dink was shot and killed by an ultranationalist teenager. The hitman,
Ogun Samast, and 18 others were brought to trial. Since then, the
lawyers for the Dink family and the co-plaintiffs in the case have
presented evidence indicating that Samast did not act alone. Another
suspect, Yasin Hayal, was given life in prison for inciting Samast
to commit murder.
The retrial started in September 2014, when the Ä°stanbul 5th High
Criminal Court complied with a ruling from the Supreme Court of Appeals
in May 2013 overturning a lower court's ruling that acquitted the
suspects in the Dink murder case of charges of forming a terrorist
organization. This decision paved the way for the trial of public
officials on charges of voluntary manslaughter.
Separate investigations related to Dink's murder, including
investigations in Ä°stanbul and Trabzon, had previously not been
merged in spite of the demands of the Dink family's lawyers. The
investigations were finally combined toward the end of last year.
http://www.todayszaman.com/national_police-officers-testifying-in-dink-murder-case-point-to-police-intel-chief_370852.html
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Jan 26 2015
Three former police officials who were working in the intelligence
unit of the Trabzon Police Department at the time of the 2007 murder
of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink have pointed to the current
head of the National Police Department's intelligence unit as the
top official responsible for the failure to prevent the murder from
taking place, a Turkish daily reported on Monday.
As the investigation into Dink's murder deepens, eyes are now on
the chief of the National Police Department's intelligence unit,
Engin Dinc, who headed the intelligence unit in Trabzon at the time
of the killing, after several people working under him were arrested
on charges of involvement in the murder.
Three police officials who had worked under Dinc in the intelligence
unit of the Trabzon Police Department were recently arrested as part
of an expanded probe into the killing of Dink. Dinc has been promoted
since then and is now the chief of the National Police Department's
intelligence unit.
The three police officials -- Ercan Demir, Ozkan Mumcu and Muhittin
Zenit -- said in their testimonies that Dinc was the highest authority
at the Trabzon Police Department's intelligence unit. According to a
report in the Taraf daily on Monday, Demir said during his testimony,
"The authority to inform provincial police departments about suspects
or conduct operations against suspects belonged to Engin [Dinc]."
Zenit also reportedly said, "Dinc and his accomplices laid a plot
against me by making me call Erhan [Tuncel]."
Sound recordings of a phone conversation between Zenit and Tuncel,
who worked as an informant for the Trabzon Police Department and was
accused of initiating the effort to have Dink murdered, have been
leaked to the media. The conversation suggests that Zenit knew about
the plot to murder Dink beforehand.
Whether the investigation will be expanded to include Dinc as a suspect
remains a question. A news report published in Taraf last week said
top state authorities have agreed not to allow him to be prosecuted
even though the testimony of his associates points to his involvement.
Taraf also reported on Monday that the government has held Interior
Minister Efkan Ala responsible for the recent crisis involving the
intelligence unit head. Ala is being criticized for not informing the
Prime Ministry and the president's office over Dinc's involvement in
the case before it was made public.
An Ä°stanbul court arrested former Cizre Police Chief Ercan Demir,
who turned himself in on Monday after a warrant for his arrest was
issued on Jan. 16.
Zenit and Mumcu, deputy commissioner of the Trabzon Police Department,
were arrested on Jan. 13 on charges of negligence and misconduct in
Dink's murder. Demir's case has garnered attention due to the fact
that he had been appointed head of the police department in the
restive southeastern town of Cizre only a couple of weeks before a
warrant for his arrest was issued.
Dink was shot and killed by an ultranationalist teenager. The hitman,
Ogun Samast, and 18 others were brought to trial. Since then, the
lawyers for the Dink family and the co-plaintiffs in the case have
presented evidence indicating that Samast did not act alone. Another
suspect, Yasin Hayal, was given life in prison for inciting Samast
to commit murder.
The retrial started in September 2014, when the Ä°stanbul 5th High
Criminal Court complied with a ruling from the Supreme Court of Appeals
in May 2013 overturning a lower court's ruling that acquitted the
suspects in the Dink murder case of charges of forming a terrorist
organization. This decision paved the way for the trial of public
officials on charges of voluntary manslaughter.
Separate investigations related to Dink's murder, including
investigations in Ä°stanbul and Trabzon, had previously not been
merged in spite of the demands of the Dink family's lawyers. The
investigations were finally combined toward the end of last year.
http://www.todayszaman.com/national_police-officers-testifying-in-dink-murder-case-point-to-police-intel-chief_370852.html