TURKEY : OPENING OF THE TRIAL AGAINST THE ALLEGED MURDERERS OF HRANT DINK

AB Haber, Belgium
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
EU-Turkey News Network
July 1 2007

Paris, 29 June 2007 – On July 2, 2007, the criminal proceedings against
the alleged murderers of the Turkish journalist, Hrant Dink will begin
in Istanbul. Assassinated on a public street in front of its office in
Istanbul on January 19, 2007, this journalist of Armenian extraction
was at the forefront of the movement in favour of the democratic
reforms in Turkey. As an enthusiastic defender of the entry of Turkey
into the European Union, Dink personified the dialogue between Turks
and Armenians. FIDH has strongly challenged the Turkish authorities
to actively seek the assassins and accomplices of this crime and, on
the occasion of the 36th FIDH Congress, demanded from that the Turkish
justice system carry out a transparent and thorough survey in order
to establish all those responsible in the assassination of Hrant Dink.

Due to the the age of alleged murderer, Ogun Samast, 17 years, the
proceedings will be held behind closed doors. According to the bill
of indictment, he will have to respond to numerous charges, including
"premeditated homicide" and "membership of a terrorist organization".

The prosecutors in the case seek a sentence ranging between 18 and
24 years of prison. He faces an additional sentence from 8,5 to
18 years in prison for membership of a terrorist organization and
illegal possession of a weapon. The two supposed instigators of the
assassination, Erhan Tuncel and Yasin Hayal, face life sentences.

Moreover, the former faces a sentence of between 22,5 and 48 years of
prison for having directed a terrorist act and the latter, 26 years
old, is likely to receive an additional sentence from 18 to 30 years of
prison for the same crimes, in addition to having furnished the money
and the weapon for the crime. Penalties ranging from 7.5 to 35 years
of prison are required against the 15 other alleged accomplices, all
from Trabzon, for complicity in murder and membership in a terrorist
organization.

The criminal investigation carried out by two prosecutors and
the anti-terrorist division of the Istanbul police force revealed
complicity and negligence within the apparatus of State, in particular
in the police and gendarmerie. The police force of Trabzon had
allegedly informed Ankara and Istanbul, as of February 2006, of the
plans of the terrorist organization to kill Hrant Dink. These warnings
were not taken seriously. The governor and the chief of the police
force of Trabzon were transferred, and the chief of the information
of the police force of Istanbul, Ahmet Ilhan Guler was dismissed from
his position and is the subject of an investigation .

The chief of police in Istanbul, Celalettin Cerrah, who had one moment
denied all "political dimensions or organization behind this crime",
was the subject of a preliminary investigation which was stopped on
decision of the governor of Istanbul, who saw no justification for
such an investigation. The lawyers of Hrant Dink made a call for this
decision. The procedure is underway.

Also, an inquest has established ilinks between the terrorist group and
an ultra-nationalist political organization, the Grand Union Party,
and its youth movement, ‘Foyers Alperen’ . The lawyers called for
the detailed examination of these relations during the proceedings.

The Turkish media, moreover, clarified that several people have been
excluded from the framework of the investigations. They revealed that
two people, one linked to the secret service of the gendarmerie and
the other with the Trabzon police force, had repeated correspondance
with the suspects. Tens of telephone contacts with Ogun Samast,
the principal defendant, were recorded for the period preceding the
murder. However, only a part of these conversations would have been
transmitted to the prosecutors in charge of the investigation.

FIDH recalls that it is essential that the case proceeds under
conditions of total safety and transparency, making it possible
for justice to be done in a peaceful manner. FIDH also demands that
light be shed on all who had direct or indirect responsibility in
this assassination, and that the true accomplices be identified,
whomever they are.

In this light, FIDH reiterates its total support for lawyers of the
Dink family and places all of its hopes and attention on the ability
of the Turkish justice system to answer all of the questions raised
in this crime, in particular the possible implication of the police
and gendarmerie but also the failure of the government to protect a
citizen who lived under a notorious threat.