The trial of two groups that brought black wreaths to Agos on April 24, 2015 was started. The case was opened upon the complaint of Agos. The suspects stood trial on the ground that they threatened the newspaper.
On
April 24, 2015, two groups brought black wreath to Agos, read a
statement and shared a video on social media that was titled as “we
said we might visit you unexpectedly”. Agos filed a complaint
against these people. Having a case against them with the accusation
of threatening Agos, the suspect stood trial on June 2.
Nationalist Turkish Party Istanbul Chair Bilal Gökçeyurt and the chair of so-called Turan Organization Ercan Uçar denied the accusations. Gökçeyurt said, “With the black wreath, we protested the partial publications on the genocide, which is not recognized by the state. We don't have any problem with Armenians. It was a democratic reaction, which is secured by Article 34 to the Turkish Constitutional Law. We don't know the person who was murdered before. We don't know the people who are included in the case file. We demand release.”
Prosecuting witness Fethiye Çetin, who is one of the lawyers of Agos, said: “When Dink was pointed as a target for the first time, they said, 'we might visit unexpectedly, Hrant Dink is our target.' It was precisely what happened.”
In the indictment that was prepared by Istanbul Public Prosecutor Abbas Temiz, it was stated that the statement in question regards Agos as responsible for what is happening in Karabakh. The indictment states: “The suspects said, 'we are marking the ones who support Armenians, while our country is occupied and our people are killed', they also reminded Hrant Dink by saying, 'we might visit Agos unexpectedly' and they shared the speech that they call press statement on their website with the purpose of insulting and threatening. The evidences in the file prove this fact.”
The complainant party wasn't present at the hearing and presented an excuse to the court.
After hearing the defences of the suspects, the court postponed the trial to November 17 and demanded the complainant party comes to the hearing.
