NEW DETAILS ON SEVAK BALIKCI’S MURDER COME TO LIGHT
Tert.am
11:21 08.08.11
The Istanbul based Armenian-Turkish weekly Agos has unveiled new
details on the murder of Sevak Shahin Balikci, an ethnic Armenian
soldier who served in a military unit of the Turkish police.
A fellow serviceman standing as a witness in the trial has told a
court hearing that Kivanc Agaoglu – a Turkish nationalist accused of
shooting Balikci dead – had earlier threatened to kill him.
The lawyer of the family, Cem Halavut, said during the hearing that
the witnesses had changed their testimonies in court, says the paper.
“The witnesses said completely different things at the Prosecutor’s
Office. But they changed their testimonies in court. It means their
activities are being dictated by someone,” Halavut was quoted as
telling the jury.
A military court in Diyarberkir had set Agaoglu free after the first
hearing that lasted 13 hours.
Balikci, who was killed in the military unit on April 24, had 23 days
to complete his service. Official data suggested that a bullet released
accidentally from a fellow servicemen’s gun had caused his death. The
prosecution calls for sentencing the defendant to nine years of
imprisonment on charges of a negligent murder. Sevak’s family demands,
however, that Agaoglu be found guilty of a premeditated murder.