GENDARMES TO FACE TRIAL OVER NEGLIGENCE IN DINK KILLING

Today’s Zaman
Nov 12 2008
Turkey

A Trabzon court has ruled that two noncommissioned officers in
the gendarmerie accused of negligence in failing to prevent the
assassination of ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink despite having
prior knowledge of the plot will face trial.

Dink was gunned down in broad daylight on Jan. 19, 2007, in front
of the headquarters of bilingual Armenian weekly Agos, where he was
the editor-in-chief. Following Dink’s murder, many reports suggested
that the police had been tipped off about the planned assassination
more than once before his murder yet failed to prevent it. The killer
and all the other suspects, including a former police informant, are
from Trabzon. Later evidence revealed that gendarmerie intelligence
units also appeared to have advance knowledge of the attack.

Gendarmes Sgt. Huseyin Yılmaz and Sgt. Hacı Omer Unalır will
be tried for their negligence in failing to take precautions to
prevent the killing of Dink even though they had intelligence of the
assassination in advance. Although Dink family lawyers demanded that
the two be brought to justice, the governor of Trabzon had refused
to give permission to proceed. The governor’s decision was challenged
by the family’s lawyers in court, which ruled that the two be brought
to trial.

CoÅ~_kun Ä°gci, the uncle of Yasin Hayal, one of the prime suspects
in the case, has testified in court that he had repeatedly informed
the two soldiers of a plot to assassinate the journalist at least
five months before the incident.

Currently, there is also an investigation into Trabzon Provincial
Gendarmerie Commander Col. Ali Oz , who is facing similar charges of
negligence in the Dink murder.

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