IDENTIFIED SUSPECT OSMAN HAYAL NOT DETAINED
BIAnet.org
/minorities/121914-identified-suspect-osman-hayal- not-detained
May 12 2010
Turkey
Two detained defendants of the murder case of Turkish-Armenian
journalist Dink were released in the latest hearing. Osman Hayal
was identified by a secret witness, though the court did not take
the suspect into detention. Former head of the Police Intelligence
Department will not be heard.
Semra PELEK [email protected] Istanbul – BÄ°A News Center12 May
2010, Wednesday HRANT DINK MURDER CASE: Secret Witness Incriminates
Three Suspects as The Killers of Dink
In the latest hearing of the trial concerned with the assassination
of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink the Istanbul 14th High
Criminal Court released two of the five detained defendants. Dink,
then chief editor of the Armenian Agos newspaper, was shot in front
of the office of the Armenian Agos newspaper on 19 January 2007.
The court decided to keep defendants Erhan Tuncel, Ogun Samast and
Yasin Hayal in detention, while Ersin Yolcu and Ahmet Ä°skender were
released from detention pending trial.
Request to hear former head of Intelligence Department dismissed In the
hearing on 10 May, a secret witness stated that suspect Osman Hayal,
brother of defendant Yasin Hayal, was at the scene of the crime as well
when Dink was shot. Despite this statement and a request of the Dink
family lawyers to detain Osman Hayal, the court decided to release him.
Furthermore, the court decided not to hear former head of the Police
Intelligence Department Sabri Uzun as it had been demanded by the
joint lawyers of the Dink family. The court dismissed the claim,
saying that Uzun’s statement was not going to bring new insights for
the cases file.
The joint attorneys of the Dink family had previously requested the
Public Prosecutor to file a lawsuit with the Istanbul Governor, Muammer
Guler, the former Istanbul Regional Head of the National Intelligence
Agency (MIT), Ozel Yılmaz, and the former Deputy Governor of Istanbul,
Ergun Gungör. The court decreed that the criminal complaints should
be filed by the lawyers instead.
Unexpected witness – JÄ°TEM member As far as the unexpected statement
of witness Erhan Ozen is concerned, the court decided to launch an
investigation. Ozen was brought to the hearing from the Amasya Prison
(northern Anatolia), where he is currently detained for another
criminal offence. He said, "I was taking money from the Istanbul
Gendarmerie Central Command and I was working for JÄ°TEM at the
time". The Gendarmerie Intelligence and Counterterrorism Centre
(JÄ°TEM) is an unofficial wing of the Turkish Gendarmerie. The court
decided to contact the Istanbul Provincial Gendarmerie Central Command
in order to confirm whether Ozen told the truth and whether he received
any payments.
Camera records will be investigated Moreover, the court decreed to send
the hard disc with the camera records from the Akbank branch to the
Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBÄ°TAK). The
disc supposedly contains footage of the area around the office of
Agos newspaper from the day of the murder and was confiscated by the
police right after the incident. The court addresses TUBÄ°TAK to find
out whether the footage was deleted and if yes with which program,
how and when. And in case the records were erased, the court wants
to know whether it is possible to restore the data. (SP/VK)