Dink Family Petitions Prosecution of Public Officials

The joint attorneys of the Dink family applied to the Istanbul Public Chief Prosecutor's Office for the litigation of public officials who were allegedly involved in the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

Dink, founder and then chief-editor of the Armenian Agos newspaper, was shot dead in front of his office in Şişli/Istanbul on 19 January 2007. The final hearing of the murder trial was held on 17 January 2012.

The petition was filed by Dink's widow Rakel Dink, his brother Hosrof Dink and his adult children Delal, Arat and Sera Dink.

As reported by the Agos newspaper, it was claimed in an additional petition that several people and institutions carried responsibility for the Dink murder, namely the Provincial Gendarmerie Commander of Trabzon, the Provincial Police Directorate of Trabzon, the Provincial Police Directorate of Istanbul and the Police General Directorate Intelligence Branch Presidency.

It was stated that the public officials committed certain crimes including "intentional homicide by negligent behaviour" according to Article 83 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK). The complainants requested open a criminal case to launch a probe about these persons.

The Dink family demanded the prosecution of Muammer Güler, Celalettin Cerrah, Ramazan Akyürek, Engin Dinç, Muhittin Zenit, Ali Öz, Ergun Güngör, Ahmet İlhan Güler, Bülent Köksal, İbrahim Pala, İbrahim Şevki Eldivan, Volkan Altunbulak, Bahadır Özkan, Özcan Özkan, Reşat Altay, Faruk Sarı, Ercan Demir, Özkan Mumcu, Mehmet Ayhan, Metin Yıldız, Hüseyin Yılmaz, Gazi Günay, Hacı Ömer Ünalır and Önder Araz.

Additionally, the complainants demanded the litigation of officials of the Trabzon Provincial Gendarmerie Command, the Trabzon and Istanbul Provincial Police Directorates and the Police General Directorate Intelligence Branch Presidency who had apparently been informed about the Dink murder in advance.

"Trabzon police concealed organization"

The submitted petition points to prosecutor Hikmet Usta's concession that the investigation failed to be comprehensive. It was demanded to determine the responsibilities and roles in the murder played by the public officials who would have been obliged to prevent the murder after they had been informed about it. According to the results, trials should be opened against them, the petition requested.

Furthermore, the petition drew attention to officials of the Trabzon Provincial Police Directorate who destroyed related telephone records and hence concealed both the organizational structure behind the murder and the responsibility. It was claimed that Erhan Tuncel, who was acquitted in the context of the Dink murder, should have received a life sentence and that action should be taken to lodge a trial about officials of the Provincial Police Directorate of Trabzon. (EKN/VK)