ZIRVE SUSPECT TOLON LEAVES PRISON

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
June 10 2014

HurÅ~_it Tolon left Silivri prison late on Tuesday. (Photo: Today’s
Zaman, Ä°sa Å~^imÅ~_ek)

June 10, 2014, Tuesday/ 18:26:00/ TODAYSZAMAN.COM / ISTANBUL

A Turkish court has ordered the release of retired Gen. HurÅ~_it Tolon,
who stands as a suspect in the killing of three Christians in Malatya
in 2007, which became known as the Zirve Publishing House massacre,
and left a prison in Silivri late on Tuesday.

Tolon’s lawyer, Ä°lkay Sezer, asked the Malatya High Criminal Court
to release Tolon, two months after the Ä°stanbul 21st High Criminal
Court ruled for him to be released from his status as a suspect in
Ergenekon gang case.

Despite a ruling for his release in March from the Ergenekon case,
Tolon remained in prison for his suspected role in the Zirve killings.

Three Christians — two Turks and one German national — were killed
on April 18, 2007 in Malatya inside the Zirve Publishing House. In
March, the five primary suspects, who had been in prison for the past
seven years in connection with the murders, were released after the
government made changes to the Counterterrorism Law (TMK), limiting
the maximum time a defendant can be held without a final conviction to
five years, prompting outrage across the nation, including a protest
by Turkish President Abdullah Gul.

The suspects’ release came at a time when the Malatya 3rd Higher
Criminal Court was close to announcing its final verdict. The
prosecutor had claimed that the Zirve murders, as well as the murder
of Father Andrea Santoro in Trabzon in 2006 and the 2007 murder
of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, were orchestrated by a
clandestine military organization called the National Strategies and
Operations Department of Turkey (TUSHAD), allegedly established by
retired Gen. HurÅ~_it Tolon in 1993.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress