The court ruled for further investigation into allegations of misconduct by security forces following the murder of Dink on January 19. The case is deferred to October 1. Around a thousand people gathered to demand justice.

I demand from honorable court which is the representative of the state that all the criminals receive the punishment they deserve. I feel no hatred to any of them; on the contrary I find all of them miserable and I feel pity for them.

As the case against suspects in the murder of journalist Hrant Dink started yesterday, two very different letters were published. One is from Rakel Dink, widow of the murdered journalist. The other is from Yasin Hayal, one of the suspects.

In the fourth Gay Pride March in Istanbul on 1 July, gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transvestites and transsexuals demanded that their existence be acknowledged and that an end be put to discrimination.

The court ruled for further investigation into allegations of misconduct by security forces following the murder of Dink on January 19. The case is deferred to October 1. Around a thousand people gathered to demand justice.

While many both in Turkey and outside believe that the outcome of the trial will indicate how far Turkeys democratisation process has come, many of the mainstream newspapers in Turkey virtually ignored the start of the trial.

In the Dink murder case, in which 18 suspects are to be tried on 2 July, journalist associations will be sending committees in order to observe the proceedings.

The International 1001 Documentary Film Festival is taking place in Istanbul from 3-7 October under the title 10.1001. The deadline for film applications is 29 June.

After dismissing a case against journalist Bogatekin three months earlier, the same prosecutors office in Gerger, south-east of Turkey, has started a second trial against the same journalist under Article 301. His trial is to start 25 July.

In a letter to Prime Minister Erdogan yesterday, the World Press Freedom Committee expressed its deep concern about the trial against Arat Dink, son of murdered journalist Hrant Dink. The committee calls for a reform of insult laws.

In an interview with bianet, Akin Birdal, humanrights activist and independent candidate in Diyarbakir in the upcoming general elections, has listed the changes that Turkey needs to make in order to put an end to torture.

As the first hearing in the case of Hrant Dinks murder is approaching on 2 July, a chronology of events surrounding his murder is offered. Editor-in-chief of the Armenian-Turkish Agosnewspaper, Dink was shot dead on January 19.

The first Gay Pride march in Istanbul happened in 2003, when homosexuals, transvestites and transsexuals marched in Beyoglu. Next week is Gay Pride Week, and several gay rights associations are marking the occasion with events.

Adem Arkadas of the International Childrens Centre says that Turkey has not kept its promise of creating a legal framework congruous with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Independent candidate Bilgen calls for more work on childrens problems.

Turkey does not recognise those coming from the East and from African countries as refugees or displaced persons. However, people coming from Europe are given this recognition. The UN and the EU are putting pressure on Turkey.

RSF condemns the decision to prosecute Arat Dink, the son of slain Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, and three other journalists employed by his newspaper, the weekly Agos, for insulting Turkish identity under the infamous article 301.

After a police operation in September 2006, targeting the Marxist Leninist Communist Party, radio coordinator Füsun Erdogan and 22 others, among them writers and journalists, face heavy sentences. Their trial begins on 26 October.

Despite complaints by the defence, a higher tribunal in Van has decreed that the Semdinli case will continue to be heard in a civilian court. The suspects will not be freed on bail.

Prime Minister Erdogan had commented that independent candidates were a waste of votes. However, the independent candidates are there to make human rights violations visible. In the case of the DTP, they may even form a group in parliament.

Sociologist Ismail Besikci, well-known for his life-long mission of writing about Kurds, is facing yet another trial for one of his articles. Besikci had written an article for the bilingual Kurdish popular culture magazine Esmer.