JOURNALISTS CLAIM: GOVERNMENT KNEW ABOUT HRANT DINK MURDER
BIAnet
Jan 22 2010
Turkey
Lawyer Belen claimed that several sources give proof of murder
suspect Samast meeting with three people prior to the murder of
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. Journalist CalıÅ~_lar argued:
"If the government knew that Damast came to Istanbul, they knew about
the murder as well".
Erol ONDEROÄ~^LU [email protected] Istanbul – BÄ°A News Center22
January 2010, Friday The joint attorneys of the Hrant Dink murder
case stated that according to the records the security forces knew
that triggerman suspect Ogun Samast met with a group of three friends
when he came to Istanbul. The lawyers declared that the government
can no longer deny its responsibility before this background.
Lawyer Bahri Bayram Belen said that Chief of Intelligence Office
Ramazan Akyurek sent an intelligence document to the Istanbul 14th
High Criminal Court on 16 October 2009, 20 days prior to his deposition
from office. The document included information on Samast who was said
to be going from Trabzon to Istanbul and to meet with some people
at the Esenler bus terminal on the European side of Istanbul. This
shows that Samast was also observed by the government intelligence
organizations before and after the murder of Hrant Dink on 19 January
2007, Belen claimed.
Belen: Samast was observed by the police before the murder Belen had
announced this information to journalists after the 11th hearing
of the case on 12 October 2009. However, the issue came up again
in a program called "Neutral Zone" on CNN Turk presented by Ahmet
Hakan on the occasion of the third anniversary of the murder of the
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink on 19 January.
Upon the joint attorney’s request to acquire the observation reports
about the defendants for the time before the murder, the referring
documents were sent to the court on 25 September 2009. One of
the documents says, "Interrogation procedures have been initiated
regarding Orhan OzbaÅ~_, Turan Meral and Kaan Gercek because all
three persons met with Ogun Samast, who killed the mentioned person,
at the bus terminal when he came to Istanbul".
The three people mentioned in the document were taken into custody
and interrogated before they were released again. They said that they
met Samast one day prior to the murder and took him around.
Belen said, "This document as well as the statements of Erhan Tuncel
made in the latest hearing indicate that Samast was monitored by the
police before the murder".
Å~^ener: What else does Akyurek know?
Journalist Nedim Å~^ener, facing almost 30 years imprisonment for his
book "The Dink murder and the Intelligence lies", also took part in
the discussion program. He argued, "They admitted their guilt because
they had screwed it up. If they know that he met with his friends,
which part of the intelligence followed up? What else can Ramazan
Akyurek know about this? What does he keep in his hands?"
CalıÅ~_lar: So the state knew about the murder Journalist Oral
CalıÅ~_lar stated, "If you knew that the person who was going to
commit the murder came to Istanbul himself and if you know when and
who he met, that actually means that you knew about the murder. What is
it called if the government knows about a murder and lets it happen?"
Samast did not mention the bus terminal Samasat gave his statement to
the Istanbul Public Prosecution on 23 January 2007 without mentioning
anything about the meeting at the bus terminal:
"I got off the bus at the Esenler bus terminal at 8.00 am in the
morning of 17 January 2007. I went to my uncle Turhan (Meral) who
lives close to the bus terminal. After a while I called my friend
Orhan (OzbaÅ~_) and met him. Orhan picked me up from BayrampaÅ~_a
together with some friends with his father’s car and I came back to
my uncle’s house at around 7.00 pm". (EO/VK)
119602-journalists-claim-government-knew-about-hra nt-dink-murder