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UPDATE - TURKEY
19 June 2007
In various legal actions against "Agos" newspaper staff, some acquitted,
others still facing charges
SOURCE: IPS Communication Foundation (BIANET), Istanbul
** New case and update to IFEX alerts on the Arat Dink, Seropyan and Engin
cases of 2 April 2007 and 6 July 2006**
(BIANET/IFEX) - Charges against the late editor-in-chief of "Agos"
newspaper, Hrant Dink, of "degrading Turkishness" and "attempting to
influence the judiciary" were dropped after he was murdered on 19 January
2007. However, on 14 June, prosecutor Mücahit Ercan demanded that Serkis
Seropyan, the owner of "Agos", and the managing editor Arat Dink (Dink's
son) be punished in the same case.
Ercan said, "We believe that the accused are degrading Turkishness by
suggesting, contrary to historical truth and without proof, that a people
were destroyed by Turks." He called for their punishment under articles 301
and 53.
The hearing, which took place in a penal court in Sisli, Istanbul, was
observed by Halil Ibrahim Özcan, the Turkish PEN Imprisoned Writers'
Committee president; Zeynep Taskin, a representative of the Heinrich Böll
Foundation; and human rights activist Füsun Celiköz. The judge, Metin
Aydin, closed the hearing to the public and the media.
In an interview with Reuters News Agency published on 21 July 2006,
entitled "One Signature against 301", Hrant Dink had said that he believed
that an "Armenian genocide" had happened. He said: "Of course I say that
there was a genocide because the result speaks for itself. You can see that
a people who lived on this soil for 4,000 years disappeared after those
events."
Regarding his father's comments, Arat Dink stated that "I cannot deny
myself, my history and my identity. These comments of mine have also made
the front pages of Turkish newspapers before, but there was never a trial.
That is because at the time there was no operation to 'show me my place'".
Seropyan said, "If it were necessary to collect signatures against article
301 again, I would do it".
The defendants' lawyer, Fethiye Cetin, claimed that the trial was only
continuing because her clients were newsworthy. She pleaded for their
acquittal, citing the dismissal of historian Taner Akcam's case as a
precedent.
Lawyer Erdal Dogan stated that the cases against the "Agos" representatives
were indefensible in the light of the case law of the European Court of
Human Rights.
In a separate case, Karin Karakasli, an "Agos" editor who received a
suspended sentence of six months imprisonment for publishing a series of
articles on "Armenian identity", was acquitted after the Supreme Court of
Appeals ordered a retrial.
In yet another case, against "Agos" journalist Aydın Engin, as well as
Seropyan and Arat Dink, concerning an article by Engin entitled "The
judiciary needs to be disturbed", Dink and Seropyan were acquitted, but
Engin still faces one charge of "insulting the panel of judges". On request
of the defence, which had not taken part in the deliberations, the case was
slated to continue on 18 July.
For further information contact Nadire Mater at BIANET, Faikpasa Yokusu,
No. 41, Antikhane, Kat: 3, D.8-9, Cukurcuma, Beyoglu, Istanbul, Turkey,
tel: +90 212 251 1503, fax: +90 212 251 1609, e-mail: bia@bianet.org,
Internet: http://www.bianet.org
The information contained in this update is the sole responsibility of
BIANET. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit
BIANET.
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