POLICE AGAIN PROTECTED IN DINK MURDER CASE
Erol Onderoglu
BÝA, Turkey
Oct 30 2007
Administrative Court has refused permission to try seven police
officers from the Trabzon police department, arguing that they had
no involvement in the murder of journalist Hrant Dink.
First it was the Trabzon Governor’s Office Province Administration
Council which refused the trial of the police intelligence department’s
president Ramazan Akyurek, former Trabzon Police Chief Resat Altay
and police officers Engin Dinc, Faruk Sari, Ercan Demir, Ozkan Mumcu,
Mehmet Ayhan and Muhittin Zenit.
Zenit became well-known after the recording of a telephone conversation
between him and police informant/murder suspect Erhan Tuncel hours
after the murder was made public.
Cetin: Possibilities have become exhausted
The joint attorneys had then asked the Regional Administrative Court
for a decision. Fethiye Cetin, lawyer for the Dink family, said that
they had not officially been notified of the court decision yet,
but that she was curious how it would be justified. The Trabzon
Governor’s Office had not offered any justification for refusing the
investigation of the police officers.
When bianet asked whether the lawyers were considering an application
to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Cetin replied:
"The possiblities for an effective application have gradually been
exhausted. Once the decision reaches us, we will evaluate those paths."
Dogan: Application to ECHR a possibility
Joint attorney Erdal Dogan added that a trial may be opened against
Zenit because of the telephone conversation with Tuncel, although
the Istanbul Public Prosecution had previously dismissed proceedings
against him.
He also said that they may demand a new investigation after the
unsatisfactory conclusions of the Prime Ministerial Review Committee.
Should there be no results, Dogan said, an appplication to the ECHR
would be a possibility:
"If there is no development, we may appeal to the ECHR on the grounds
that an effective investigation has not been possible."
Initial demand for investigation of police
Following Erhan Tuncel’s statement, the Istanbul Public Prosecution
had initially demanded an investigation of the Trabzon Police Force.
On 7 August, the Trabzon Governor’s Office Province Administration
Council, based on a preliminary report by the Prime Ministerial
Review Committee, had refused permission for seven officers to be
investigated. Lawyers of the Dink family had then applied to the
Regional Administrative Court.
Trial continues on 11 February
The trial of Hrant Dink’s murder continues at the Istanbul 14th
Heavy Penal Court with 19 defendants, eight of them detained. The
next hearing is on 11 February 2008.
Hrant Dink was shot dead in front of the office of the weekly
Turkish-Armenian Agos newspaper in Sisli, central Istanbul, on 19
January 2007. Human rights activists in Turkey and around the world
are demanding that the trial go beyond the obvious murder suspects
and uncover the involvement of more powerful forces behind the murder.
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