WORLD – TURKEY PUTS 18 ON TRIAL FOR KILLING OF TOP ARMENIAN JOURNALIST
Morning Star
July 3, 2007 Tuesday
The trial of 18 suspects in the kiling of ethnic Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink began in Turkey on Monday, more than six months after he
was gunned down in Istanbul.
The case is widely seen as a test of whether Turkey’s judiciary will
be able to probe alleged official negligence over the killing.
Mr Dink was shot dead on January 19. He was hated by nationalists
for calling the mass killings of Armenians in the early 20th century
genocide.
The trial is being held behind closed doors because alleged killer
Ogun Samast is a minor.
Hundreds of protesters demonstrated near the courthouse, appealing
for justice and carrying a banner that read: "We are all witnesses,
we want justice."
Turkey had vowed to conduct a thorough inquiry and the governor and
police chief of the Black Sea city of Trabzon, the home town of the
alleged killer, were sacked for negligence.
Some security officials who posed for photographs with the gunman as
he held a Turkish flag were also dismissed.
However, many Turks are convinced that a network of state agents or
ex-officials, possibly with ties to organised crime, periodically
targets progressives in the name of nationalism.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
