Month: July 2007

COURT HEARING OF MURDER CASE OF HRANT DINK POSTPONED UNTIL OCTOBER 1

ISTANBUL, JULY 3, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. According to the
decision of a court in Istanbul, the court hearing of the murder case
of Hrant Dink, the former editor-in-chief of the Weekly Akos, has been
postponed until October 1. This information was provided by the Turkish
press.

The first closed hearing of the murder case of Hrant Dink lasted about
twelve hours in the 14th criminal court of Istanbul on July 2. The
court made a decision to set 4 out of 18 defendants free: Irfan Ozkan,
Osman Alpha, Veysel Toprak, and Salih Hacsalihoglui, for whom detention
was chosen as a preventive punishment.

It should be mentioned that according to the bill of indictment made by
prosecutors Selim Berna Altai and Fikret Sechen, they claimed to
sentence Irfan Ozkan, Osman Alpa, and Veysel Toprak to imprisonment
from six months to five years on the charge of "supporting a terrorist
organization" and "concealing the crime", and as for Salih
Hacsalihoglui, they claimed to condemn him to ten years of imprisonment
on the charge of "being member of a terrorist organization."

The court made a decision to postpone the trial of Hrant Dink until
October 1. The court sustained the claims presented by lawyers, that is
to say, it should introduce all the tape-recordings of the phone
conversations belonging to Erhan Tunjel and Yasin Hayal, the main
defendants of the murder case of Hrant Dink, as well as the 48-page
report sent to the Prosecutor’s Office and written by the special
service office concerning Tunjel and a number of other documents.

During the court hearing Erhan Tunjel declared that he can mention the
names of several security collaborators, whom he had informed of the
danger threatening Hrant Dink: "I had informed the security
collaborators about the possible murder of Dink. I have done what I was
obliged to. I can give the names of the 8 collaborators of the security
service, whom I gave information. They are witnesses for me," Erhan
Tunjel declared.

It is also mentioned that an unpleasant incident took place between
Fuat Turgut, the lawyer of Yasin Hayal, and Umit Abanoz, a lawyer of
Hrant Dink’s family at the moment when the trial was to begin. Just at
the moment when Rakel Dink together with her two daughters entered the
court, the lawyer of Hayal looked in their direction and said in a loud
voice: "You all are Armenian, all of you have Armenian passports."
There was an argument between Fuat Turgut and Umit Abanoz, the further
development of which was prevented by the interference of policemen.

The world community is also very interested in the trial of Hrant Dink.
The Associated Press and Reuters agencies write, in particular, that
Dink’s trial is considered as an examination for the Turkish system of
justice.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian leader, Council of Europe officials discuss reforms

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
3 Jul 07

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan today received a delegation of the
Ago monitoring group of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers
led by the Swedish ambassador to the Council of Europe, Per Sjorgren.

The Austrian, French, German, Russian, Romanian and Latvian ambassadors
to the Council of Europe, as well as officials of the secretariat of
the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers are also included in the
delegation.

Highly rating the delegation’s regular visits, the sides expressed the
opinion that Armenia has gone an important way towards honouring the
obligations it undertook on entry into the Council of Europe and has
achieved success in carrying out reforms.

Kocharyan said that the reforms carried out in all spheres of life,
first of all, are important to ourselves and we have no other way to
develop our country. Armenia is not rich in natural resources and our
main resource is the human factor that can be demonstrated only with
the implementation of large-scale reforms, Kocharyan said.

The sides also touched on the current stage of the negotiations on the
settlement of the Karabakh conflict and the meeting held between the
Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents in St Petersburg. They also
exchanged views on the results of the 12 May parliamentary elections
and preparations for the forthcoming presidential elections in Armenia.

During the meeting, the sides also discussed issues concerning freedom
of the media. The ambassadors to the Council of Europe touched on the
amendments to the law on TV and radio which are being discussed at the
National Assembly. The Armenian president briefed them on the
government’s initiative regarding the amendments.

Armenian MPs fail to adopt changes to TV, radio law

Mediamax news agency
3 Jul 07

Yerevan, 3 July: The Armenian parliament did not adopt the package of
amendments and additions to the laws "On TV and radio" and "On the
state duty" in their second reading today.

Sixty-three MPs voted in favour of the amendments and two abstained,
Mediamax reports. At least 66 votes are needed to adopt amendments to
draft laws.

The opposition factions – Heritage and Orinats Yerkir (Law-Governed
Country) – did not participate in the voting.

The draft laws ban the operation of other broadcasting companies on the
frequencies of Armenian Public TV and Radio and establishes new duties
for rebroadcasting on private radio channels, Mediamax reports.

[Passage omitted: Armenian President Robert Kocharyan today received a
delegation of the Ago monitoring group of the Council of Europe
Committee of Ministers. They touched on the amendments to the law on TV
and radio which are being discussed at the National Assembly]

Turkish court agrees to broaden investigation into killing of ethnic
Armenian journalist
AP Worldstream
Published: Jul 03, 2007

A Turkish court has decided to broaden the investigation into the
killing of an ethnic Armenian journalist to consider allegations of
official negligence in the slaying, a lawyer said early Tuesday.

After a 12-hour hearing on Monday, the court released four of the 18
suspects implicated in the killing of Hrant Dink, who was gunned down
on Jan. 19, until the resumption of the trial on Oct. 1.

The killing led to international condemnation and debate within Turkey
about free speech. Dink was hated by hardline nationalists for
describing the mass killings of Armenians early in the last century as
genocide.

The trial is taking place behind closed doors because the alleged
gunman, Ogun Samast, is a minor.

Lawyer Bahri Belen, representing Dink’s family, told reporters early
Tuesday that the court agreed to broaden the investigation.

Two of the key suspects, Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel, claimed they
worked for the security forces. The alleged gunman had remained silent
during the trial.

Tuncel, who is suspected of masterminding the killing, reportedly told
the court that he was paid by police for gathering intelligence,
according to a lawyer who attended Monday’s hearing.

The court decided to ask police to provide a list of Tuncel’s telephone
calls.

Critics have accused authorities of failing to act on reports of a plot
to kill Dink, and it is unclear whether allegations that could
potentially be embarrassing for top officials will be explored in the
trial.

Hayal’s lawyer Fuat Turgut said that his client and the gunman were
"manipulated by certain forces because of their patriotic feelings."

Turkey had vowed a thorough investigation, and the governor and police
chief of the Black Sea city of Trabzon, the hometown of Samast, were
removed from office because of negligence. Some security officials who
posed for photographs with the gunman as he held a Turkish flag were
also dismissed.

There has been no evidence that directly implicates any police or
government official in the slaying of Dink outside his office, however.

Many Turks are convinced that a so-called "deep state" _ a network of
state agents or ex-officials, possibly with links to organized crime _
periodically targets reformists and other perceived enemies in the name
of nationalism.

Dink sought to encourage reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia. But
he was prosecuted under Article 301 of Turkey’s penal code, which bans
insults to Turkish identity, for his comments on the mass killings of
Armenians by Turks in the early 20th century.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian NGOs protest outside parliament against media bill

Aravot, Yerevan
3 Jul 07

Text of unattributed report by Armenian newspaper Aravot on 3 July
headlined "No to lawlessness"

While the National Assembly was discussing the bill threatening to
terminate the broadcasting of Radio Liberty in its second reading
yesterday, a number of NGOs organized a protest. The protest began on
Freedom Square and continued at the entrance to the parliament.

The participants in the protest, who held posters saying "No to
lawlessness, no to disorder", tied their mouths with white cloths as a
sign of protest. The protesters hung a poster saying "Independent
dependents" on the banisters surrounding the parliament. The names of
79 MPs, who voted on Friday [29 June] for the amendments to the laws
"On TV and radio" and "On the state tax", were written on the poster.
It is expected that the law will be adopted in its second reading today.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian foreign minister plays down Azeri bellicose statements

Arminfo
2 Jul 07

Yerevan, 2 July: Azerbaijan’s military rhetoric proves the lack of
readiness of the country for compromise and peaceful settlement of the
Nagornyy Karabakh [NKR] conflict. Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanyan said this at a news conference in Yerevan when commenting on
the latest statement of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

Oskanyan said that Baku’s bellicose statement is unacceptable and has a
negative effect at the negotiations process. Apart from that, the
frequency of bellicose rhetoric creates a situation where belief
emerges that it is improbable and helps to support the bellicose spirit
of Azerbaijan.

"This is where I see the threat, and if they have begun to believe in
it, we start to understand that Azerbaijan will not compromise," the
minister said.

Speaking of what aims Aliyev is following by making such statements,
Oskanyan expressed hope that "they are intended for domestic use.
However, globally, any statements receive wide advertisement by the
world community. Thus, it turns out that all the statements are
intended for a regional and global audience," Oskanyan stressed. He
added that Armenia has always said that it does not see and not suggest
a military solution to the NKR conflict. "A military solution to the
conflict should be eliminated because it is unreal. The only way to
resolving the conflict is the ability to compromise," Oskanyan said.

Intellectuals’ visit aimed at informing Armenia of Azerbaijan’s stance
– aide

Turan news agency
3 Jul 07

Baku, 3 July: Since the meeting between the presidents of Armenia and
Azerbaijan in St Petersburg [on 9 June] Yerevan has been taking a
nonconstructive position, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz
Azimov said in an interview with journalists. This could be connected
with the interests of certain people and organizations in the run-up to
the [2008] presidential election in Armenia, Azimov said.

Therefore, the recent visit by members of the intelligentsia of
Azerbaijan and Armenia to Nagornyy Karabakh and Armenia should be
viewed as an opportunity to inform the Armenian public of Azerbaijan’s
position.

At the same time, Azimov made a significant clarification saying that
the mutual visits of the two delegations are not meant to be viewed as
the "green light" to visits to Armenia and Nagornyy Karabakh by NGO
members. "The intellectuals’ visit was a special event with the aim of
informing the Armenian public," the deputy minister said.

Armenia: "Restrictive" foreign media bill fails

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty website, Washington, D.C.,
3 Jul 07

Excerpt from report by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty website on 3 July

The Armenian parliament has failed to pass a bill that would have
placed severe restrictions on foreign broadcast media, particularly
RFE/RL [Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty].

The legislation would have banned foreign broadcasts on Armenian public
television and radio and heavily taxed their retransmission on private
stations.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had said
the proposals, which passed its first reading on June 29, amounted to a
"ban on RFE/RL" and could have made Armenia’s March 2008 presidential
elections less free and fair.

The measure didn’t pass in today’s second and final reading because
opposition, independent, and even some pro-government lawmakers blocked
a quorum by boycotting two separate votes.

Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, had called the legislative package a
potential blow to media freedom in general.

But today’s failed vote in parliament, where just enough lawmakers
boycotted the vote to prevent a quorum, means the government must start
over if it wants to try again to pass the legislation. That involves
redrafting the proposals and resubmitting them again for a new first
reading.

Victor Dalakian, an independent member of parliament, was one of the
more outspoken critics of the legislation introduced by the government.

"The minority proved that quality is more important than quantity, and
this would be a lesson for the parliamentary majority, that it should
respect one of the most important rights: liberty," Dalakian told
RFE/RL.

But it wasn’t just the minority that doomed the draft legislation.

It didn’t pass in today’s second and final reading because opposition,
independent, and even some pro-government lawmakers blocked a quorum by
boycotting two separate votes.

In the first attempt, only 64 votes were cast (63 for, none against,
one abstention) in the 131-member parliament. In the second try, 65
votes were cast (63 for, none against, two abstentions).

Both fell short of the 66 votes necessary for a quorum.

The votes came one day after the U.S. State Department weighed in. On
July 2, following a question during a press briefing, the State
Department issued a statement in which it suggested the proposed
legislation was unlikely to further Armenia’s "stated desire for
continued democratization, particularly in the wake of the May
parliamentary elections that marked a step forward even as they
reflected the need for further improvements toward democratic
standards."

[Passage omitted: Demonstrations on 2 July]

Speaker Tigran Torosian and other officials had argued that the
legislation would actually not have affected RFE/RL broadcasts. But
that position, given the legislation’s wording, left observers both
inside and outside the country puzzled.

That’s because the legislation clearly spelled out sharp disincentives
for private Armenian radio stations to carry foreign broadcasters’
programs. They would have had to pay more than 200 US dollars in taxes
each time they retransmitted a program produced by a foreign media
organization.

That is about 70 times more than broadcasters must pay for a locally
made program.

European officials urge Armenia to scrap new bill on foreign broadcasts

Arminfo
2 Jul 07

Yerevan, 2 July: "I have expressed my concern to the Armenian foreign
minister in connection with the amendment to the law on TV and radio,
which is aimed at banning foreign broadcasts on Public Radio and the at
increasing taxes on them," the head of the delegation of the Ago
monitoring group of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, Per
Sjorgren, told a news conference in Yerevan.

"We are currently analyzing this bill, but the OSCE statements on this
issue fully correspond with the statement that we made earlier. The ban
on foreign broadcasts, in particular Radio Liberty, as well as the
disproportionate increase in taxes on them, which can result in the
termination of their broadcasts, violates Article 10 of the European
Convention on Human Rights and can seriously affect freedom of
expression in the country," Sjorgren said.

The OSCE representative on freedom of the media, Miklos Haraszti,
called on the Armenian authorities today not to adopt bills that
practically aim to ban the broadcasting of Radio Liberty in the
country. "The adoption of these bills is an encroachment on Armenia’s
obligations in the field of ensuring pluralism in the media and access
to information. I urge the Armenian authorities to call off the
amendments," Haraszti said.

The New York Times: Just trial on murder of Hrant Dink will not be
possible

04.07.2007 11:56

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – The world press widely covers the trial on the
murder case of Hrant Dink, editor-in-chief of `Agos’ Armenian-Turkish
bilingual.

The New York Times newspaper has declared that this case will test the
rule of law in Turkey. The paper also said that the court is not open
to public because the suspects are too young. The NYT claimed that a
just trial will not be possible according to the defense counsels
because of the high interest in the case. In its turn the French
newspaper Le Monde said that the police had known about the intentions
of the murderers but that the counsels’ demand to investigate the
subject was rejected.

The Spanish newspaper El Pais asserted that the case tries the
objectiveness of the court in Turkey. The paper claimed that there are
still doubts that Turkey keeps the structure of a
`state-within-a-state’. El Pais also remarked that the EU follows the
case closely.

A court in Istanbul, which yesterday started the trial on the murder
case of Hrant Dink, editor-in-chief of `Agos’ Armenian-Turkish
bilingual, has decided to broaden the investigation to consider
allegations of official negligence. After a 12-hour hearing, the court
released four of the 18 suspects. The judge also decided to postpone
the hearing till October 1.