Travel - 9 July 2007

S/E EUROPE


Dink murder trial opens behind closed doors
Eighteen people charged in shooting of Turkish-Armenian journalist
By Nicolas Cheviron - Agence France-Presse

ISTANBUL – The trial of 18 people charged with involvement in the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink opens behind closed doors here today, with his lawyers complaining that several security officials they say should also be tried are not among the accused. The central figure of the trial is triggerman Ogun Samast, who has admitted to killing Dink by shooting him twice in the head and once in the neck on a busy Istanbul street on January 19, in front of the offices of his bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos.

The triggerman

The unemployed 17-year-old Samast, who said he came to Istanbul to kill Dink from his native Trabzon, where he was known for his close ties to ultranationalist circles, faces 18 to 24 years in jail for the murder and a further nine to 18 years for belonging to a terrorist organization.

The prosecution did not seek life because Samast is a minor, which is also why the trial is closed to the public.

Two men accused of being the leaders of the far-right group and ordering the murder, Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel, could be jailed for life without the possibility of parole if found guilty.

The 15 others on trial face jail sentences of seven-and-a-half to 35 years.

Before being arrested for the Dink murder, Hayal had already served jail time for the 2004 bombing in Trabzon of a McDonalds restaurant in which six people were injured.

Hayal faces a separate trial for having threatened Turkey’s 2006 Nobel Literature laureate Orhan Pamuk, whose views on the World War I massacres of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire are unpopular in Turkey.

Notable for their absence in the dock, according to Dink family lawyer Fethiye Cetin, are several unnamed security officials.

“Members of the security forces in Trabzon, where the killing was planned, in Istanbul, where it was executed, and in Ankara, where the intelligence was gathered, were not included among the accused,” she told a news conference Friday.

“And this despite the established fact that they had links with the suspects, failed in their duty, concealed evidence and even sought to vindicate the murder and the murderer,” she said.

A ‘test’ of judiciary

“Hrant Dink’s murder trial is a critical test of the Turkish judiciary’s independence,” the international rights organization Human Rights Watch said in a statement Friday.

“The Turkish judiciary must hold accountable any security forces responsible for negligence or collusion in the murder,” it said.

Dink, 52, had drawn the ire of the Turkish far right for having openly argued that the mass killings of Armenians in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1917 constituted genocide – a label most Turks despise and Turkey officially rejects.

The murder sent the country into prolonged shock, and more than 100,000 people from all walks of life took to the streets of Istanbul on the day of Dink’s funeral, chanting “We are all Hrant Dink” and “We are all Armenians.” Dink’s friends and followers said they plan to hold a rally in his memory near the courthouse where his murder trial opens today.



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I heard stories about turks and blacks being attacked by Neo-Nazis.

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2007-07-09 12:06:30 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Singapore

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2007-07-09 11:48:14 · 4 answers · asked by The McK's 4 in Dublin

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In Las Vegas
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Double Standards?

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I noticed that many Lebanese hate Syrians now. Why don't they distinguish between Syrian government and Syrian people? Syria is a dictatorship. Many people don't support Assad. It's a really immature act. I'm ashamed of some Lebanese.

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I would like to go to Las Vegas for New Years.......most of the hotels are already booked and the rates are high! So my question is if I stayed in a hotel in downtown Las Vegas.......what's the best way to get to the strip? Is there a bus that will take you to the strip.......I've heard about shuttles.

2007-07-09 10:47:27 · 12 answers · asked by :) 3 in Las Vegas

Five of us are going to Dublin on Wed for a day trip. Would it be better to hire a car for the day or go on the bus into the city centre? I can hire a car for £27.00 for the whole day so I am not sure if that would work out cheaper than five of us getting the bus into the city centre. Someone told me there is not any places to park the car in Dublin. What advice could anyone give me and do you know how much is it for the bus from the aiprport into the centre of Dublin. I thought the car would be better as we could go and see more of the city plus travel outside the city and see a bit of the surrounding countryside. I have got my TomTom so not worried about getting lost. Is petrol expensive in Ireland?

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2007-07-09 10:39:02 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Turkey

Sarkozy says France aims to convince Hizbullah to 'renounce terrorist acts, become political party. Sarkozy said France's goal was for the group to "renounce terrorist acts and become a political party almost like any other,"

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