Erdoğan intervenes in the retrial of the Hrant Dink murder case

İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court has followed the decision of the Court of Cassation for retrial of 15 defendants in the case related to the murder of Hrant Dink, the editor-in-chief of Agos, murdered in front of the office of the newspaper in İstanbul on 19 January 2007.

Following the decision made by the 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation in June, the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court held its first hearing today (November 1).

Court of Cassation gives its ruling in Hrant Dink case

22 June 2023

Defendants Şükrü Yıldız and Mehmet Ali Özkılıç were present at the hearing, while 12 defendants 7 of whom are detained were connected to the hearing via the Audio-Visual Informatics System (SEGBIS).

The defendants expressed their disagreement with the Court of Cassation's decision and requested the court not to comply with it. They stated their desire to physically attend the hearing and make their defense. Detained defendants requested their release.

President Erdoğan requests to intervene

Following the defendants, the lawyer representing the Presidency, Timuçin Üzel, requested to intervene in the case. Üzel stated, "The Presidency has suffered damage due to attempts to overthrow the constitutional order. We request a decision for the Presidency to participate in the public trial." Üzel also asked for the punishment of the defendants and for measures to be taken regarding their assets and receivables.

Subsequently, Bahri Belen, one of the lawyers representing the Dink family, expressed dissatisfaction with the decision of the Court of Cassation. Belen said, "There is a 131-page evidence folder related to both procedure and substance. However, the Court of Cassation's 3rd Criminal Division did not review this folder andit has disregarded us as an intervening party. It has not stated anything regarding our requests about the decision. We are not stating anything about the decision made by the 3rd Criminal Division of the Court of Cassation either."

Following the statements, the court took a break, and after that, it decided to comply with the Court of Cassation's reversal decision. The court ruled to continue the detention of Gazi Günay, Hasan Durmuşoğlu, Muharrem Demirkale, Okan Şimşek, Osman Gülbel, Veysal Şahin, and Yavuz Karakaya.

The court also accepted the Presidency's request to intervene in the case and gave the parties one month to make statements regarding the separation of files and the expansion of the prosecution.

The court decided that it would evaluate the petitions and, if it is deemed that the requests would not contribute to the trial, the case file would be sent to the prosecutor to prepare the final opinion on the merits.

The next hearing is scheduled for January 10, 2024.

Hrant Dink

Hrant Dink (1954 – 2007) was a Turkish-Armenian intellectual, editor-in-chief of Agos, journalist, and columnist. As editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos, Dink was a prominent member of the Armenian minority in Turkey best known for advocating Turkish–Armenian reconciliation and human and minority rights in Turkey. He was often critical of both Turkey's denial of the Armenian genocide and of the Armenian diaspora's campaign for its international recognition. Dink was prosecuted three times for denigrating Turkishness, while receiving numerous death threats from Turkish nationalists. Dink was assassinated in Istanbul on 19 January 2007 by Ogün Samast, a 17-year-old Turkish nationalist, shot three times in the head dying instantly. (Source: Wikipedia)

(HA/PE)