DINK FAMILY LAWYERS HAVE LESS FAITH THAN EVER IN TURKISH JUSTICE

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Published on 10 May 2010

As the 13th hearing in the trial of the alleged killers of
Turkish-Armenian newspaper editor Hrant Dink is held in Istanbul
today, Reporters Without Borders reiterates its support for his family
and its lawyers in their struggle for a fair trial and for all the
circumstances of his murder to be brought to light.

The Dink family’s lawyers have just filed a complaint against Istanbul
deputy governor Mustafa Guran accusing him of abuse of authority and
obstruction for refusing to let them see the report of an investigation
by interior ministry inspectors into the alleged role of police and
security officials in the murder.

The lawyers, Fethiye Cetin and Ismail Cem Halavurt, say they need
access to the report for various initiatives, including an appeal
against a 12 March decision clearing police chief Celalettin Cerrah
of any responsibility. Once they had made it clear they intended
to appeal, the governor should have released the report to them,
they insist.

Although guaranteed by Turkish legislation and the European Convention
on Human Rights, any possibility of a free and fair trial is being
blocked the deputy’s governor’s refusal to cooperate. He would face
a possible three-year sentence if the prosecutor’s office agreed to
try him on a charge of abuse of authority under article 257-1 of the
criminal code.

The Dink family and its lawyers also want the Dink murder trial
assigned to prosecutors who work on it full-time so that it is given
the required attention. Until now, the prosecutors in charge of the
case have had to handle other cases at the same time.

A determined campaigner for recognition of the Armenian genocide, Dink
was prosecuted many times in connection with his work as a journalist
and was targeted by judicial officials and ultranationalists in the
months prior to his death. He was gunned down on 19 January 2007 in
the Istanbul district of Sisli, just a few meters from the entrance
to Agos, the weekly newspaper he created in 1996.