BIA, Turkey
Feb. 26, 2008
An `Exam’ for Turkey’s Democracy: Hrant Dink and Malatya Trials
Yesterday there were hearings in the Hrant Dink and the Malatya
murder cases. Whether or not all the shady connections in the murders
will emerge will decide on the future of Turkey’s democracy.
Býa news centre
26-02-2008
Nilüfer ZENGÝN Emine ÖZCAN
On Monday morning (25 February), a group of around 500 people
gathered in Besiktas, central Istanbul, today in order to demand
justice in the Hrant Dink murder trial.
No real justice in sight
Journalist Hrant Dink, editor of the weekly Turkish-Armenian Agos
newspaper, was shot dead on 19 January 2007. His suspected gunman and
many other young men from nationalist circles in Trabzon on the Black
Sea are on trial, but it is widely held that the main protagonists in
the case are still missing.
There has been evidence of gross negligence on behalf of the Trabzon
police and the Istanbul police, but the investigation of many
officers has been obstructed, and the trials of junior officers in
Trabzon and Samsun have been kept separate from the main murder trial
in Istanbul.
At 11 am today (25 February), the protesters, who were carrying
placards saying `For Hrant, for Justice’, released a press statement,
read by singer Sevval Sam.
In Malatya case also lack of transparency
Sam pointed out that there was a hearing of the Malatya murders today
aswell. In Malatya, three Christian men were brutally murdered in
April 2006.
German Tilman Ekkehart Geske, as well as Turkish citizen Necati Aydin
and Ugur Yüksel were working for the Zirve Publications in Malatya.
They are assumed to have been killed by five young men with
ultranationalist connections, four of whom were caught at the crime
scene, and one of whom had jumped out of the window from the
building. Like in the Hrant Dink case, there have been murky
connections with nationalist circles and security forces, and
similarly, evidence has been tampered with.
Justice in these trials is "a question of honour"
Sam said, `These trials are a question of honour for our country.’
As well as calling for the Samsun, Trabzon and Istanbul trials to be
linked in the Hrant Dink case, Sam also said:
`Turkey’s future will be brightened with justice. It will be
brightened if Hrant’s murderers, those instigating the murder and
those protecting them are punished in an exemplatory manner. It will
be brightened if the number of people demanding justice increases and
if authorities listen to their voices.’
Malatya court refused access to documents and recording of hearings
At the third hearing in the Malatya murder trial, the joint attorneys
complained that they had, illegally, been refused access to documents
in safekeeping at the court. In addition, their demand for a
recording of the court hearings had been refused thrice. When the
Istanbul court decided to record the Hrant Dink murder case hearings,
they again applied for the same procedure to be applied in Malatya,
but the court refused again. The lawyers have thus demanded a change
of judge.
The lawyers have also demanded that a bulk of information on
Christians and Christianity as well as personal information on the
murder victims be removed from the files, but this request has been
refused. The joint attorneys had previously argued that the
prosecution had displayed more interest in accusing the men of being
missionaries than investigating the murder suspects.
The hearing was postponed to 17 March and the case file will be sent
to the Diyarbakir Heavy Penal Court for examination. (EZÖ/NZ/TK/AG)