NATIONALIST ATTACK DISSIDENTS DINK AND ENGIN DURING TRIAL

BÝA, Turkey
May 17 2006

Armenian Turkish journalists Dink and Engin were attacked during court
hearing in Istanbul. Defendants escaped near-lynch attempt under police
protection. “They are exploiting court cases for nationalist plots”
says Dink.

BÝA (Istanbul) – Groups of nationalist spectators attacked defendants,
their lawyers and observers during the court hearing of bilingual
Armenian-Turkish Agos newspaper editor Hrant Dink, the paper’s
editor-in-chief Serkis Seropyan and columnist Aydin Engin at the
Istanbul 2nd Court of First Instance.

The defendants and their lawyers barely escaped a lynch attempt
as the tiral closed. After an hour-long siege in the justice hall,
they were escorted out to safety by policemen.

Dink, Engin and their lawyers Fethiye Cetin and Ergin Cinmen told
bianet that tensions in Tuesday’s hearing, where the defendants are
on trial for attempting to “influence justice”, started when they
turned up in front of Istanbul’s Sisli justice hall.

The group arrived at the court building to find its entrance populated
by angry nationalists shouting “get the hell out of this country”
to them in a physically threatening manner.

“We had to enter the court building surrounded by a police cordon”
Cetin explained. Dink added, “thankfully the police officers did
everything to get us into the court building safely. They took us up
to the court room in a special lift”.

The defendants and their lawyers were then verbally abused and had
to divert physical assaults in the corridor before they entered the
court room itself, where during the hearing coins and pencils were
thrown at them and they were insulted by a group of observer believed
to be led by nationalist lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz.

“I was only harassed verbally and through physical attacks by those
people filling the corridors of the court room” Dink said, noting that
they were mainly shouting “get the hell out of this country” to them.

Hearing under abuse

Dink and his co-defendants Seropyan and Engin attended Tuesday’s
court hearing under heavy verbal and physical abuse that was also
noted into court records.

Nationalist “Jurists Union” lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz, Civilian Society
Organisations Union of Turkey (TSTKB) member Ramazan Kirkik, retired
general Veli Kucuk and Independent Turkish Orthodox Patriarchy
spokesman Sevgi Erenerol were among those at the hearing demanding
to be accepted as official complainants of the journalists and were
repeatedly warned for their behaviour by the bench.

During the hearing itself, defence lawyers were repeatedly threatened
verbally, being told “we are also watching you”.

Agreeing with prosecutor Mustafa Dag’s views, the court decided to
reject three separate appeals by the nationalists to be accepted
as complainants on grounds that they were “not directly effected by
the alleged offence” while judge Yalcin Hayret issued a warning to
Kerincsiz and those around him for repeatedly interfering in the case.

Kerincsiz claimed the judge himself had “lost his objectivity” and
asked for his removal on grounds that he was preventing intervention
on part of complainants but both his request for Hayret’s removal
and to be accepted as a complainant were turned down.

Dink: I have been made a deliberate target

More than defending themselves at court, Dink and his co-defendants
were forced to defend themselves from the intervening groups and
nationalists that turned up at the hearing.

“The marginal nationalists are clearly trying to make such cases
popular and are trying to produce a nationalist policy” Dink told
Bianet after the eventful hearing. “We should not fall into this trap”.

Dink added, “In all of the cases launched against me up till this
day, I not asked any support from inside or abroad, from the press
or politicians. Because this would mean falling into the trap of the
marginal nationalists”.

“I have been deliberately made a target. And they want to use and use
this target. By giving the impression that I have committed a crime
that I have not, the impression that I have insulted, they want to
isolate me in front of the Turkish society. At least those who know
how to read and who understand are standing up against this”.

Engin: Lynching Justice

Aydýn Engin said, meanwhile, that justice itself was being lynched.

“A group led by Kerincsiz and his friends have attempted to lynch
justice” he said. “And in a big way they have succeeded”.

He added, “I have seen many trials but throwing coins and pencils at
us and defence lawyers by those who managed to enter the court room
as complainants is something I have seen for the first time.”

Engin argued that the conditions of a “fair trial” no longer existed in
the case noting, “we ourselves are being put on trial for influencing
a fair trial but in reality today the conditions of a fair trial have
been eliminated”.

Cetin: Influencing fair trial

Defence lawyer Fethiye Cetin explained that the Dink and co-defenders
case was launched on allegations of influencing justice and added,
“what has taken place today and what is being done in other trials
is influencing justice itself”.

“They are creating such an atmosphere that one cannot talk about a fair
trial. They are putting pressure on the defendants, the defence, the
judge and prosecutor. During the hearing they insulted the prosecutor”.

Cetin continued “the pressure is directed at the court. When they
wanted to be accepted as complainants they said the Turkish nation
is a complainant and we are watching”.

Trial under pressure

During the hearing itself a number of people around Kericsiz wanted
to be accepted as complainants to argue their cases but their appeals
were turned down and due to their behaviour they were repeatedly
warned by the judge. To the extent that, according to Cetin, the
judge was almost calling the police into the courtroom.

Defence lawyers themselves were threatened by the so-called complainant
group saying “we are watching you too” and when Yucel Sayman reacted
to them saying “you can’t threaten us” coins and pencils were hurled
at the defence from observer seats.

When the hearing came to an end a group gathered downstairs and
attacked the defendants, lawyers and observers. Two people were
physically hit and the defendants could only leave the building an
hour later under police escort.

Cinmen: Police were tolerant

Defence Layer Ergin Cinmen referred to the incident at the end of the
hearing as “short of a lynch” and said it “reflected the intolerance
to freedom of expression in Turkey”.

“The number [of protestors] is small but because they are extremely
fanatic, it is a mass that can show itself. Security forces on the
other hand are incredibly tolerant to them. Two people were hit by
fists during the tumult. If they had the opportunity they would have
attacked the lawyers”

Case adjourned to 4 July

Following Tuesday’s hearing the court was adjourned to July 4.

Hrant Dink is on trial in this case for his article titled “Is
democracy going to be established with this penal clause?” while
Aydýn Engin is charged for his article “One should touch the justice
system”. Both defendants are charged under Turkish Penal Code article
288 for attempting to influence fair justice.

Dink, Engin and Arat Dink refuted the charges in the hearing and
maintained they had committed no offence.

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