TRIAL OF TURKISH-ARMENIAN JOURNALIST’S MURDER OPENS AMID PROTESTS
Nicolas Cheviron
Agence France Presse — English
July 2, 2007 Monday 3:53 PM GMT
Eighteen suspects went on trial here Monday for the January murder of
ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, which sparked fears of rising
nationalist and anti-minority violence in Turkey.
The trial behind closed doors began as Dink’s family said the procedure
was flawed because it excludes security officials who knew as early
as 2006 of plans to kill Dink, but failed to act.
Police in Istanbul and the northern city of Trabzon, home to most
of the suspects, are responsible for "extremely grave mistakes and
almost intentional negligence," family lawyer Ergin Cinmen said
outside the courthouse.
The defendants "are just the tip of the iceberg," he said. "If public
servants are not put on trial, the ruling will never satisfy justice
and public conscience."
In an emotional written statements, Dink’s widow Rakel and his
brother Hosrof appealed to the court to shed light on the involvement
of officials.
"Have the courage to challenge them… Let the justice of God work
through you so that the trial may become a point of enlightenment
for Turkey," Rakel said.
"This trial is between those who defend the legal system and those
who claim they are the law and the state," Hosrof said. "It will be
a turning point for Turkey if the trial sheds light on the truth."
As police sealed off the street leading to the courthouse, about
2,500 demonstrators, most of them dressed in black, gathered at a
nearby square and unfurled a large banner that read: "We are all
witnesses. We want justice."
"We are all Hrant Dink. We are all Armenians," they chanted.
Dink, 52, a prominent member of Turkey’s tiny Armenian minority,
was gunned down on January 19 outside the offices of his bilingual
Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, in central Istanbul.
Although he campaigned for reconciliation, nationalists hated Dink
for calling the killing hundreds of thousands of Armenians under
Ottoman rule during World War I genocide, a label most Turks despise
and Ankara officially rejects.
The suspected gunman, 17-year-old Ogun Samast, has admitted to shooting
Dink because he was an "enemy of the Turks," the indictment says.
Samast faces 18 to 24 years for the murder and a further
eight-and-a-half to 18 for belonging to a terrorist organisation.
The prosecution did not seek a life sentence because he is a minor,
which is also why the trial is closed to the public.
Samast refused to speak at Monday’s hearing, Dink family lawyer
Fethiye Cetin told reporters.
Two other key figures — Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel, both 26 —
are accused of leading the ultra-nationalist group Samast belonged
to and masterminding the murder.
They could be jailed for life without the possibility of parole if
found guilty.
The indictment says Tuncel was a police informer who twice told
officials in 2006 that Hayal was plotting to kill Dink, but
deliberately concealed the fact that someone else would pull the
trigger because Tuncel himself was part of the plot.
Hayal had earlier served 11 months for the 2004 bombing in Trabzon of
a McDonalds restaurant, in which six people were injured, to protest
against the US-led invasion of Iraq.
He is also accused of threatening Turkey’s 2006 Nobel Literature
laureate Orhan Pamuk, who has also contested the official line on
the Armenian killings.
Hayal and Tuncel traded accusations before the judge, lawyer Oguz
Ugur Olca said.
Tuncel rejected any involvement in the murder, saying he was a simple
informer who did his "duty" by tipping off the police about the plot.
Hayal said Tuncel masterminded both the Dink assassination and the
McDonalds bombing; Tuncel called Hayal a "schizophrenic," Olca said.
The 15 other suspects face sentences of seven-and-a-half to 35 years.