Before the hearing of the public officials as part of Dink case started, Friends of Hrant made a press statement in front of Istanbul Court House.
Journalist
Pınar Ögünç read the statement on behalf of Friends of Hrant.
Reminding that retired brigadier
general Veli Küçük is back to protocol, Öğünç said, "We
know what the return of Veli Küçük means and we are not afraid.
Our struggle will continue until the ones who ordered the murder
stand trial and everyone who has a hand in this murder is punished.”
As part of the case that started at 10.00 this morning, public officials including the current Chief of Security General Directorate Intelligence Branch Engin Dinç, former Istanbul Provincial Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah, former Chief of Security General Directorate Intelligence Branch Ramazan Akyürek, former Chief of Istanbul Secuirty Directorate Intelligence Branch Ahmet İlhan Güler, former Trabzon Provincial Police Chief Reşat Altay and former Istanbul Intelligence Branch Chief Sabri Uzun stand trial.
The hearings will last for 3 days. The second set of hearings was held on May 24, 25 and 26. In the first two days, the indictment against public officials and the indictment against the former civil inspector and incumbent Deputy Governor of Ordu Mehmet Ali Özkılıç were read. On the third day of hearings, former Trabzon Provincial Police Chief Reşat Altay presented his defence.
“The state had been knowing that Hrant Dink will be killed at least one year before the murder”
Emphasizing that the case started on July 2, 2009 and after 9 years, they are once again present at the court as the witnesses and followers of the case, the statement reads: “For 9 years, we had been demanding the public officials stand trial. Finally, the public officials are being heard. In his defence, Reşat Altay, who was the chief of Trabzon Provincial Police at the time of murder, claimed that he hadn't been informed about the plans for murder. Altay also claimed that Ramazan Akyürek, who was serving as the chief of police before him, Engin Dinç, who was the chief of intelligence branch when Altay was in office, and Faruk Sarı, who started to work as the chief of intelligence branch after Dinç, hadn't provided any information about this issue. We don't find these statements credible. Given the statements of the suspects and the demands for release, we once again understood that, without a doubt, the state had been knowing that Hrant Dink will be killed at least one year before the murder. We know that Trabzon Security Directorate, Trabzon Provincial Gendarmerie Command, Istanbul Security Directorate and Istanbul Security Directorate Intelligence Branch had detailed information about the murder.”
“We are not afraid”
“The court made rulings for non-prosecution concerning some suspects and they have been on our agenda last week. Among those suspects, there are retired brigadier general Veli Küçük, who was also a suspect of Ergenekon, Kemal Kerinçsiz, former Deputy Governor of Istanbul Ergun Güngör, retired intelligence service officer Özel Yılmaz. The lawyers of Dink family appealed to the Constitutional Court, after their objection to the verdict of non-prosecution was refused. In the same week, Veli Küçük, who had been lying low for a while, appeared on the state protocol during the celebration of 177th anniversary of the foundation Gendarmerie. We know what the return of Veli Küçük means and we are not afraid. Our demand is clear, our struggle will continue until the ones who ordered the murder stand trial and everyone who has a hand in this murder is punished.”
Today, it is expected that suspect Muhittin Zenit, who was working as a police officer in Trabzon and released on the second hearing, will be presenting his defence. After that, Ercan Demircan, who was working as the chief of Trabzon Intelligence Branch at the time of murder, will be heard.
