Today’s Zaman, Turkey
05 July 2008, Saturday
Hearings proceed in Malatya murder case
Seven suspects in the killings of three Christians last year at the
Zirve publishing house in eastern Malatya province attended the murder
trial’s ninth session yesterday.
On April 18, Christians Necati Aydın, UÄ?ur Yüksel
and German national Tilman Geske were tied to their chairs at the
publishing house. They were brutally stabbed and their throats
cut. The publishing house where they worked was involved in producing
Bibles and other Christian literature.
Suspects S.G., C.Ã-., H.T. and A.Y. were caught at the crime scene
and immediately taken into custody. Emre Günaydın fell
from the third story while attempting to escape from police by
climbing down a drainpipe. He too was taken into custody. More
witnesses testified at the court hearing in Malatya yesterday, where
the suspects are standing trial for aggravated murder. Witness Metin
DoÄ?an, formerly a noncommissioned officer with the air force
but later imprisoned, said he had been offered a large sum in 2005 to
commit the murders. DoÄ?an, who had testified in earlier
hearings, reiterated his earlier testimony that he knew
Günaydın, one of the prime suspects, from an
ultranationalist youth organization.
DoÄ?an alleged that he had been offered $300,000 to commit the
murders by ultranationalist organization Idealist Clubs President
Burhan CoÅ?kun, former Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Malatya
deputy Namık Hasan Durhan, Hikmet �elik, whom he was
told was a senior general, and MHP Malatya Branch President Mehmet
Ekici. DoÄ?an appeared as a witness after writing to the
prosecution from his jail cell. He also said that a warden in jail had
told him that the job was given to Günaydın by former
deputy Durhan. DoÄ?an also said he had written a letter to
Günaydın to dissuade him from doing the deed. He also
said he had his sister call the Zirve publishing house on more than
one occasion to warn them about the plot.
The prosecution, however, said DoÄ?an had made similar
assertions in the case of Hrant Dink, the Armenian journalist killed
by a teenager in the January of 2007. His sister, Sevim DoÄ?an,
testified that her brother had a mental illness, which was the reason
for his removal from his post as a noncommissioned officer.
Another witness, Ozan DaÄ?han Ã?obanoÄ?lu, a student
who knew one of the witnesses, said he had given the e-mail address of
victim Aydın to the prime suspect, Günyadın, via
an Internet messaging program, thinking Günaydın was
genuinely interested in finding out about Christianity.
05 July 2008, Saturday
TODAY’S ZAMAN Ä°STANBUL
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
