DINK’S FAMILY TO FILE SUIT AGAINST TURKISH POLICE
ASBAREZ
2/8/2007
ISTANBUL (Marmara)—Hrant Dink’s attorney announced Wednesday that
the slain Agos newspaper editor’s family was thinking about filing
suit against the head of the Turkish Secret Service Ahmet Ilhan
Guler for not pursuing information regarding an assassination attempt
against Dink.
Guler, who has been fired for his handling of the case is also being
blamed for not conveying vital life-saving information to Dink,
regarding death threats the police had received.
Meanwhile, a Turkish court began Dink’s retrial for "insulting
Turkishness" Tuesday at the Second Sisli Criminal Court, almost
three weeks after a 17-year-old nationalist shot and killed the
Turkish-Armenian journalist, Anatolia news agency reported today.
Dink was accused of violating controversial Article 301 of Turkish
Penal Code (TCK) that criminalizes insulting Turkishness in an article
he wrote in Agos weekly on Feb. 13, 2004.
In his article, Dink said, "The clean blood that will replace the
poisoned blood of the Turk is present in the honored veins that will
be established between the Armenian and Armenia."
Several people, including the controversial nationalist lawyer Kemal
Kerincsiz had filed complaints against the journalist. The Sisli
Prosecutor’s Office had then taken on the case, filing charges against
Dink for insulting Turkishness. Dink had argued that what he meant by
the statement was that Armenians had the strength to overcome their
destructive hatred of Turks.
Dink’s murder suspect also said he was influenced by the nationalist
interpretation of what the journalist wrote. Dink was found guilty
and given a suspended six-month sentence.
The Supreme Court of Appeals Ninth Criminal Bureau and the Supreme
Court interpreted Dink’s statement as an insult to Turkishness.
The Sisli court Judge Hacer Bayraktar said there were no records of
Dink’s death and postponed the trial to June 14.