LAWYERS REQUEST TO STEP UP INVESTIGATION INTO DINK MURDER
PanARMENIAN.Net
May 5, 2010 – 13:07 AMT 08:07 GMT
Two lawyers representing the family of slain Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink have asked the Istanbul Public Prosecutor’s
Office to step up the protracted investigation into the 2007 murder
of the famous Armenian writer and editor.
The lawyers called for the appointment of new prosecutors to conduct
a thorough investigation into what they described as a three-year-long
"operation" in legal cases, investigations and inquiries.
The lawyers also requested that the prosecutors allocate most of
their time and resources into to the investigation.
"The prosecutor or prosecutors who will be appointed to this
investigation should be released from other duties and attending
hearings because the acts we mentioned in our petition covers a period
of more than three years; the number of individuals and institutions
involved is quite high and thus require intense concentration and
time," lawyer Fethiye Cetin was quoted by the Turkish Today’s Zaman
as saying. "This is why we requested from the office that prosecutors
focus primarily on this investigation to conduct it in a timely and
thorough manner, as one should not expect satisfactory work from them
with their existing workload."
The petition, which was submitted to the prosecutor’s office last
Friday, lays out the course of the murder in phases of "preparation",
"creating public opinion", "action", "manipulation", and "destroying
evidence."
The petition characterizes the "preparation" phase as including the
dissemination of media reports framing a negative public opinion
of Dink, official complaints against him, and indictments under
Article 301.
The request also indicts members of the National Intelligence
Organization (MIT), the intelligence services of the gendarmerie and
the police as being part of this phase. It argues the aforementioned
groups had been complicit and refused to take preventative measures
despite having been aware of plans to kill Dink, asbarez.com reported.