TURKISH COURT CONVENES TO HEAR ASSASINATED JOURNALISTS’ CASE
The New Anatolian
Feb 11 2008
Turkey
An Istanbul court convened Monday for the third hearing of trial
of 19 suspects in a case over the assasination of Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink.
Dink’s wife, Rakel, and his sister Delal along with their legal
counsellors were present at the court room. The trial took place
behind closed doors because the alleged gunman is a minor.
52-year-old Dink, editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos,
was shot dead in front of his office in Istanbul on January 19, 2007.
Prosecutors have asked for a prison term of 18 years up to 24 years
for Dink’s assassin, and lifetime sentences for two key suspects,
Erhan Tuncel and Yasin Hayal, for inciting to the murder.
The killing led to international condemnation and debate within
Turkey about free speech. Dink was hated by hardline nationalists for
describing the mass killings of Armenians early in the last century
as genocide.
Prosecutors also asked for Hayal a prison term of up to 30 years for
threatening Orhan Pamuk, Turkey’s nobel-winning novelist.
Dink sought to encourage reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia.
But he was prosecuted under Article 301 of Turkey’s penal code,
which bans insults to Turkish identity, for his comments on the mass
killings of Armenians by Turks in the early 20th century.