HRANT DINK: A COURAGEOUS VOICE SILENCED 1954-2007
turkey17817.htm
18 Jan 08
One year ago, Hrant Dink, a courageous Turkish-Armenian newspaper
editor, journalist, and human rights defender was silenced forever. He
sought open debate, dialogue, and cooperation between all ethnic and
religious communities in Turkey and across the political spectrum. On
January 19, 2007, he was shot dead outside his office in Istanbul in
an apparently politically and ethnically motivated killing.
Dink was identified by his murderers as an Armenian who had been
convicted in court for "insulting Turkishness." In the 18 months
prior to his murder he had been the subject of three prosecutions
for speech-related offenses. For an article in which he discussed
Armenian identity, in July 2006 he received a six-month suspended
sentence under Article 301, a provision of the Turkish penal code
that criminalizes "publicly insulting Turkishness."
Hrant Dink © 2006 Murat Turemis
On the one-year anniversary of his death, the human rights community
mourns the loss of a writer and activist deeply committed to
democratization and human rights in Turkey.
At 3 p.m. on January 19, 2008, a vigil organized by the friends of
Hrant Dink will be held at the spot where he was killed, outside the
offices of Agos ("ploughed furrow"), the bilingual Turkish-Armenian
newspaper he founded and edited, and for which he wrote a column.
Human Rights Watch has joined Turkish and international groups in
demanding justice for Dink. A representative of Human Rights Watch will
be present outside the courtroom on February 11 for the third hearing
of the trial of 19 defendants in the Dink murder. They include the
then 17-year-old gunman and leaders of a gang that allegedly appointed
him to carry out the killing.
Human Rights Watch continues to urge the Turkish government to conduct
an independent, thorough and transparent investigation into concerns
that members of the security forces failed to act on reported threats
to kill Dink and allegedly obstructed justice during the investigation.
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