DINK’S MURDER TRIAL STARTS

Turkish Daily News , Turkey
ISTANBUL – TDN with wire dispatches
July 2 2007

The first hearing of the 18 defendants in the murder case of the
Armenian Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, assassinated in Istanbul in
January, starts today at Istanbul High Criminal Courts in Beºiktaº.

Many are expected to gather in front of the courthouse to demonstrate
that the public follows the case closely. The hearing is closed
to public and media as one of the murder suspects is less than 18
years’ old.

Dink, an advocate of free speech, whose comments about the mass
killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in early 20th century
infuriated hardline nationalists, was shot to death in central Istanbul
in front of the office of Agos newspaper where Hrant Dink was editor
in chief. Dink was tried for allegedly violating Article 301 of the
Turkish penal code, which penalizes ‘insulting Turkishnness’, in an
article published last year.

The police quickly arrested the17-year-old murder suspect. But
critics accused authorities for ignoring reports about the plot
to kill Dink. Allegedly all residents in the Black Sea province of
Trabzon’s Pelitli, the hometown of the suspect and his perpetrators,
knew about the murder plan.

Dink’s trial will prove judicial independency

ISTANBUL – TDN

The murder trial of Armenian Turkish journalist Hrant Dink in
last January will be an exam of judicial independency for Turkey,
the international human rights association Human Rights Watch
(HRW) mentioned in a press statement last week. "We will carefully
follow how the court will handle the evidence pointing at security
officials," said the HRW Europe and Middle Asia department director
Holly Cartner. The security officials who had connections with or
negligence in Dink’s murder should be tried, the HRW emphasized. The
organization also noted it is concerned because before the launch of
the investigation Istanbul police chief declared the murder was had
no political connections. "Turkish authorities could not protect
Dink although it was obvious that his life was in danger," Holly
Cartner said.

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