DINK’S LAWYERS UNABLE TO SEE THE "STATE SECRET" ABOUT THE CASE
Erol Onderoä~^Lu – Hukuk@Bianet.Org

BÄ°
13-10-2008
Turkey

Dink’s lawyers have objected not being able to see the report about
Erhan Tuncel’s function as an intelligence staff on the grounds that
it was "State Secret". Witness Osman Hayal did not answer the question
whether or not he was in Istanbul at the time of the murder.

In the 7th hearing of the murder of Hrant Dink today, the court
refused to give the file about assigning Erhan Tuncel’s as an assistant
intelligence staff to the lawyers of the Dink family on the grounds
that it was a "state secret". Hrant Dink, Armenian journalist from
Turkey and former chief editor and owner of Agos, an Armenian/Turkish
biweekly, was murdered in front of the building where his newspaper
was located on January 19, 2007, for which eight people are on
trial. The lawyers of Dink’s family are trying to have four different
investigations outside of Istanbul combined with the main case.

Ramazan Akyurek, Director of the Intelligence Bureau of the Police
Department, told the court that only 16 pages of the 90 page long
classified report could be made accessible, since the rest could have
lead to the problems.

Lawyer Fethiye Cetin said that they found out the file had been sent
to the court on April 20, but the lawyers were not informed about it
at the hearing on April 28. According to Cetin, the secret parts of the
report should be determined in a meeting with all the lawyers present.

Osman Hayal did not answer the questions concerning his presence
in Istanbul Ogun Samast, the accused killer, was not present at the
court since he had to be taken to the Kocaeli State Hospital for a
psychiatric consultation.

When asked if he was in Istanbul before and after the murder, Yasan
Hayal’s brother Osman Hayal said he did not remember.

Previously, Osman Hayal had said he was at Trabzon at the time of the
murder. But when it was realized from his telephone signals that he
could have been in Istanbul at the time of the murder, he was taken
into custody.

Yasin Hayal’s lawyer Fuat Turgut insulted Dink During the hearing,
Yasin Hayal’s lawyer Fuat Turgut reacted in a hostile manner to
the demands by the lawyers of Dink’s family that the files for the
McDonald’s bombing and the killing of the Priest Santoro be combined
with this case and hurled insults at Hrant Dink.

The court warned the lawyer, when slained journalist’s brother
Orhan Dink criticized the court for overlooking the lawyer’s
behavior.

–Boundary_(ID_dPFumZ/pPUp1xhh dNS8LHA)–