DINK MURDER TRIAL UNDERWAY
Turkish Daily News, Turkey
July 3 2007
The trial of 18 defendants – including the suspected assassin who
is a minor – charged in connection with the murder of prominent
journalist of Armenian origins Hrant Dink opened yesterday in branch
14 of Istanbul’s court for serious crimes.
A scuffle took place at the entrance of the courthouse before the trial
started between Fuat Turgut, the lawyer of the alleged inciter Yasin
Hayal and a joint attorney Umit Abanoz, as Turgut said to Dink’s wife
Rakel Dink and his daughters Delal and Sera "You are Armenians, you
have Armenian passports. There are far too many Armenians here." Upon
those words, Abanoz shouted, "You are a provocateur, take off that
cloak… Get this man out of here." Fuat Turgut verbally attacked
Turkish Daily News columnist Cengiz Candar as well. The affray ended
as police intervened.
The Dink family participated in the trial as plaintiffs, while
the applications of weekly Agos and daily Birgun in which Dink
was columnist to be a plaintiff was accepted by the court, one of
the lawyers of the Dink family Fethiye Cetin announced in a break
during the trial. The court rejected a demand by Ayþe Onal to be a
plaintiff since she was not directly harmed by the event. She is
a member of International PEN and Turkey Journalist Association
(TGC). The editor-in-chief of weekly Agos Etyen Mahcupyan and Ali
Bayramoðlu watched the trail as well as represented Agos.
The criminal organization should be disclosed:
The criminal organization behind the murder not only consists of the
defendants, said Cetin, as she answered questions in front of the
courthouse, before the trial got underway. The whole organization
should be disclosed, Cetin said, noting that their argument would
be based on this point. The police and gendarmerie forces were
negligent, which amounts to the committing of an intentional crime,
those allegations should be combined with this case, Cetin added.
Only the ones who pulled the trigger will face judgment today, said
Aydýn Engin to the TDN, who is columnist for weekly Agos, where Hrant
Dink was the editor-in-chief. Aydýn Engin was investigated as well just
like Dink on accusations of denigrating Turkishness. Emphasizing that
this case would provide clues whether behind the scenes connections
of the murder will be revealed or not, "I want to be hopeful but I
cannot be in today’s Turkey," Aydýn said.
Yasin Hayal sent around 20 letters to the court saying, "The police
directed us, now they should protect us," said Hayal’s lawyer,
Fuat Turgut before the trial. Claiming that Erhan Tuncel used his
client and the minor who is suspected of being the assassin, Turgut
argued that Hrant Dink was an old terrorist but he was presented as
a journalist, and as a result too many defendants were collected
to create uproar. They will be released during the first trial,
he alleged.
There is definitely no criminal organization, Turgut said, alleging
that if there is one, it starts with defendant Erhan Tuncel and goes
above him. Tuncel is another important suspect in the murder, as it
was revealed that he was a police informer and informed the police
several times about a possible plot to kill Dink.
Speaking to journalists waiting outside, the Dink family’s lawyer
Kemal Aytac said the young hit man was using his right to silence,
while Tuncel said he didn’t know why he was being tried because he
was a paid member of the state.
The gunman’s lawyer asked the court for a child psychologist and a
child prosecutor because his client was younger than 18, but both
requests were rejected by the court.
Strict security measures
Police took heavy security measures around the courthouse in central
Beþiktaþ, including barriers closing nearby streets. Police officials
conducted body searches and checked the bags of reporters who wanted
to go to the courthouse. Lots of foreign and local reporters followed
the case.
More than 400 lawyers are involved in Dink’s case as joint
attorneys. Prominent lawyers like Ergin Cinmen, Yucel Sayman and
Alp Selek are the joint attorneys in the case. Selek is the father
of sociologist Pýnar Selek, who was accused of having connections
with the bombing in Istanbul’s Spice Bazaar in 1998. Pýnar Selek was
acquitted last year. Yucel Sayman was the former head of Istanbul bar.
People gathered for the trial
ISTANBUL – Anatolia News Agency
Around 1,000 people gathered in Beþiktaþ early in the morning,
carrying banners saying "We are all Armenians, "we are all Dinks,"
and "We are all witnesses, demand justice," which was signed as
‘the Coordination to watch the Hrant Dink case.’ Hrant Dink’s wife,
Rakel saluted them as she was going to the courthouse, while the people
applauded her. Making a press statement, Tores Dincoz emphasized that
they gathered in front of the courthouses in which Hrant Dink was
tried, but Dink was taken away, as they were not strong enough. "We
gathered here to prevent the blackening of truths," Dincoz said.
–Boundary_(ID_Y2dRHEIL17G5Vitve2bM1g)–