COURT HEARING OF MURDER CASE OF HRANT DINK POSTPONED UNTIL OCTOBER 1

ISTANBUL, JULY 3, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. According to the
decision of a court in Istanbul, the court hearing of the murder case
of Hrant Dink, the former editor-in-chief of the Weekly Akos, has been
postponed until October 1. This information was provided by the Turkish
press.

The first closed hearing of the murder case of Hrant Dink lasted about
twelve hours in the 14th criminal court of Istanbul on July 2. The
court made a decision to set 4 out of 18 defendants free: Irfan Ozkan,
Osman Alpha, Veysel Toprak, and Salih Hacsalihoglui, for whom detention
was chosen as a preventive punishment.

It should be mentioned that according to the bill of indictment made by
prosecutors Selim Berna Altai and Fikret Sechen, they claimed to
sentence Irfan Ozkan, Osman Alpa, and Veysel Toprak to imprisonment
from six months to five years on the charge of "supporting a terrorist
organization" and "concealing the crime", and as for Salih
Hacsalihoglui, they claimed to condemn him to ten years of imprisonment
on the charge of "being member of a terrorist organization."

The court made a decision to postpone the trial of Hrant Dink until
October 1. The court sustained the claims presented by lawyers, that is
to say, it should introduce all the tape-recordings of the phone
conversations belonging to Erhan Tunjel and Yasin Hayal, the main
defendants of the murder case of Hrant Dink, as well as the 48-page
report sent to the Prosecutor’s Office and written by the special
service office concerning Tunjel and a number of other documents.

During the court hearing Erhan Tunjel declared that he can mention the
names of several security collaborators, whom he had informed of the
danger threatening Hrant Dink: "I had informed the security
collaborators about the possible murder of Dink. I have done what I was
obliged to. I can give the names of the 8 collaborators of the security
service, whom I gave information. They are witnesses for me," Erhan
Tunjel declared.

It is also mentioned that an unpleasant incident took place between
Fuat Turgut, the lawyer of Yasin Hayal, and Umit Abanoz, a lawyer of
Hrant Dink’s family at the moment when the trial was to begin. Just at
the moment when Rakel Dink together with her two daughters entered the
court, the lawyer of Hayal looked in their direction and said in a loud
voice: "You all are Armenian, all of you have Armenian passports."
There was an argument between Fuat Turgut and Umit Abanoz, the further
development of which was prevented by the interference of policemen.

The world community is also very interested in the trial of Hrant Dink.
The Associated Press and Reuters agencies write, in particular, that
Dink’s trial is considered as an examination for the Turkish system of
justice.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress