Cihan News Agency, Turkey
Jan 4 2014
Former head of police intelligence to testify in Hrant Dink case
As part of the ongoing trial over the assassination of Turkish
Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, Prosecutor Muammer AkkaÅ? has called
Sabri Uzun, the former head of intelligence for the National Police
Department, to testify.
Prosecutor AkkaÅ?, who recently complained to the media about being
blocked in his second phase of the corruption investigation launched
in December, had previously taken the testimony of police informant
Erhan Tuncel in the Dink case. Tuncel is accused of ordering Ogün
Samast to murder Dink in 2007.
After the initial trial concluded, AkkaÅ?, who is in charge of
investigations into terrorism, re-evaluated the Dink case from the
beginning, searching for what previous investigators had missed.
Asking defendants to testify again, the court heard further testimony
from Tuncel in November.
Tuncel had said that Dink’s murder was plotted by an organization even
higher than Ergenekon, a clandestine terrorist organization that was
convicted in 2013 of fomenting chaos in the country. Tuncel argued
that Police Chief Ali Fuat Yılmazer and Uzun had failed to notify the
authorities of Dink’s murder and prepared a false report on the case.
Tuncel said Yılmazer and Ramazan Akyürek made him the number one
suspect in an effort to hide their own role in the murder. Tuncel also
claimed that the gendarmerie had nothing to do with the murder, but
that the Trabzon police had neglected their duty in the case.
`You do not have the police in front of you, but a murder gang,’
Tuncel said in his testimony, claiming that the gang’s members are
doing everything they can to keep it a secret.
According to Tuncel, former Ä°stanbul Governor Muammer Güler and former
Ä°stanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah have nothing to do with the
case. Tuncel accused Akyürek of organizing the murder. Tuncel denied
Akyürek’s claim that he is connected to the gendarmerie, which Tuncel
called an effort by Akyürek to hide his connections with the police.
Uzun is expected to go to court in Ä°stanbul to testify about Tuncel’s
accusations.
The next hearing of Dink’s trial will be held on Jan. 7.