Murdered Armenian Journalist Dink Family denounces to CoE Turkey's failure to apply ECHR Judgement

*Strasbourg/- In 2 recent Letters to the CoE, the Family of the Murdered Armenian Journalist Hrant Dink, strongly denounces Turkey's reluctance to implement ECHR's Judgement which condemned Ankara on 2010 for failing to really Investigate the Murder's circumstances in order to find and punish all those responsible, (See "EuroFora"s previous NewsReport at: http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/echrhrantdink.html ), shortly before its Committee of Ministers holds, next week in Strasbourg, its Semestrial Human Rights' Session, revealing, inter alia, that Turkish Authorities not only avoided, until now, to seriously prosecute several identified Suspects even among High-Ranking Turkish State's Officials, but they even went as far as to .. "Reward" those suspected to have participated in the preparation and/or to have covered up the Murder, by promoting them, afterwards, to important positions, even officially dedicated to ... Human Rights' protection, as Media have just revealed these Days !, ( See Facts cited Infra).
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Meanwhile, as early as since October 2007, the Son of the Murdered Journalist, Arat Dink and others were condemned by Turkish Courts for "insulting the Turkish Identity (sic !)" because he dared re-publish a part of his killed Father's original texts!...

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 - In particular, the murdered Journalist's Family's Lawyer Fethiye Cetin wrote to the CoE 2 Letters denouncing the fact that, while "ECHR's judgement requires to bring to Justice any person who is found Resonsible in this (Journalist's Murder) case, as well as to make Efficient Investigations on allegations concerning High-ranked (Turkish) State Officials", "nevertheless, the Turkish Government not only Failed to make concrete, serious and sincere progress on the implementation of this judgement untl now, but it even limits itself merely into sending to (CoE's Committee of Ministers some Plans ... on the on-going prosecution process (against anyone involved in the cold-blood Murder) which are far away from being efficient and effective". ----------------------
On January 2012, the Turkish Criminal Court of Appeals at Istanbul "Aquitted all those accused to be members of an illegal Band", and, "despite all the proof contained in the File, the (Turkish) Criminal Court did NOT admit that Hrant Dink's Murder was an act committed in the framework of an illegal Band's activities".      

 - "Moreover, the No 1 Suspect, Erhan Tuncel, who worked for Trabzon' s Direction of Security , was Acquited (by the Turkish Court) from accusations of belonging to a Band, as well as for Directing it, and as an Instigator having also taken part to the Murder".

+ In addition, even Osman Hayal, brother of one among the Main Suspects Accused : Yasin Hayal, was also Acquitted from accusations to belong to an Armed Band",
Even Yasin Hayal was condemned "only for having been an Istingator of the Murder" of Armenian Journalist Hrant Dink, but was, even him, acquitted by the Turkish Courts from the denonciation of his role as founder and director of a Band".
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As for the unemployed Turkish Youngster who was arrested by the Turkish Police as the Gunman who shot and killed the Armenian Journalist Hrant Dink, a Law introduced by Ankara's Government long after the 2007 Murder : on 2010, excluded any competence to the ordinary Criminal Courts, sending him for judgement to the Juvenile Courts, which "Separated" the accusation of belonging to a Band, and "Postponed" it until the Turkish Supreme Court judges an Appeal by the Family of the murdered man against the Rejection, by other Turkish Courts, of all other denonciations on all other Suspect's alleged involvement in an Armed Band to allegedly plot the Murder. An issue still Pending during Autumn 2012...
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- However, "even more than 5 (Five) Years now after the Murder, not any new Criminal Procedure was even launched, except only from those which had been launched since the start", and "this Investigation's File remains Unefficient, despite the fact that we have already presented, many times, concrete Informations that we have found, concerning the Participation of certain (Turkish) State Officers in the Murder, as well as relevant Proof", Victim's Family also denounced.

- "It's Worrying to see that there wasn't any Progress or concrete Development in the .; Investigation, particularly when it concerns High-ranked (Turkish) State's Agents, who have had a possibility to Disguise or Destroy Evidence, and even have, indeed, Attempted to do so..... It is clear that the Time which has lapsed, favours the Suspects and causes prejudice to the Killed Man's Family... Therefore, it has now (End of November 2012) become clear that this (Turkish) Enquiry is not at all Efficient in order to shed Light on the Real Circumstances of the case", Warned the Document lodged by their Lawyer now to CoE's Committee of Ministers, responsible for the implementation of ECHR's judgements by all Member States.
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Moreover, after a Turkish Procurator Rejected a Court's demand to impose more serious Sanctions to 2 Turkish Secret Services' Agents, Okan Simsek and Veysel Sahin, than a mere "condamnation for Negligence" wasn't serious enough, "for having Failed to fullfil their Duty, even if they had been Informed about the Preparations of the Murder of Hrant Dink", during a "new Court's Hearing they ... declared that they had Informed their Chiefs that Hrant Dinck was going to be Murdered".

 - But, "their (Turkish Secret Services') Chiefs not only hadn't reacted to this Information, but they had even tried to Hide from the Judges, after the Murder, several Informations and Documents which could serve as Proof, had Forged Fake Documents, had exerted Pressure upon themù (Simsek and Sahin) in order to Hinder them from giving their Testimonies, and, those Same Chiefs had even Threatened also another Witness, Coskun Igci, in order to dissuade him from saying anything to the judge", the Victims' Lawyer astonishingly revealed !

    However, even after Criminal Prosecution was extended also to "8 Officers of the (Turkish) Gendarmerie, Colonel Ali OZ and Captain Metin Yildiz, Chief of Secret Services", "despite efforts, by the Victim's Family's Lawyers and from a Judge, to upgrade the case to the more heavy Sanctions normally corresponding to the Serious character of the Facts for which these suspects were accused", nevertheless, the Turkish Authorities refused that, and obliged to keep the procedure downgraded and limited only at the Lower level of Minor Offenses, instead of that of a Higher Criminal Court, (regardless of the fact that "the accused had also Falsified Official Documents, Forged Fake Documents, Destroyed Evidence of the Crims, Threatened Witnesses in Murder case, and attempted to Obstruct their Testimonies").

    Thus, by a judgement issued on June 2011, a Trabzon Court "condemned Ali Oz and Metin Yildiz", (Chief of Turkish Secret Services), to 6 Months of Imprisonment, while Husein Yilmaz, Omer Unalir, Okan Simsek and Veysel Sahin were condemned to 4 Months in jail, but Gazi Gunay and Onder Araz were aquitted".
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    + Meanwhile, when "Hrant Dink Family's Lawyers provided New Evidence and asked to Open an Enquiry on the Responsibilities of the (Turkish) National Intelligence Agency, the Security Services' Direction at Istanbul and Trabzon, as well as the Gendarmery's Commandment in Trabzon; and the Intelligence Department of (Turkey's) National Security Service, who hadn't taken any Measure to Protect Hrant Dink's Life", "Trabzon's Prosecutor droped the case", and "the Turkish Criminal Court of Appeals discontinued those proceedings".

    => "In consequence, until now (2012) not any Criminal Prosecution wasn't ever launched, neither on the (Turkish) State Security Agents in Trabzon province, where the Murder had been Planned and Prepared, and where the Suspects had met eachother, Nor vis a vis the Agents of Istanbul's Security Service, there where the Murder was committed", the Lawyers' document presented at the CoE in Strasbourg denounces.

    Therefore, "concerning the Implementation of ECHR's Judgement in the case "Dink v. Turkey" (2010), "despite the fact that (according to ECHR's well established case-law) every person Involved in that incident must be brought to Justice, and an Efficient Investigation must be made vis a vis High-Ranking (Turkish) State Officials, nevertheless, Nothing concrete wasn't ever made in this sens", and, "contrary to Turkey's obligation to Fill the Gaps in its Judicial System, as they were clearly noted in ECHR's Judgement, in fact, No Progress at all wasn't ever observed,  and No Steps at all weren't ever made in order to FIGHT AGAINST IMPUNITY" of Crimes, the Victim's Family's Lawyers denounced, underlying anew "the Vital Importance of the case Dink v. Turkey in the domain of the Fight against Impunity" of Serious Crimes.
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 - In fact, "the Turkish Government didn't ever made any serious, concrete and sincere attempt to implement ECHR's Judgement", since all "those Responsible" for the Murder "weren't brought to Justice, and No Reventive Measures in order to avoid Repetition of Similar Violations as in the case of Hrant Dink's Murder, were ever taken".

>>> "On the Contrary, several among those Responsible" for the bloody incident, were even .. REWARDED by Promotion, and, at several occasions, the (Turkish) Government repeated some initiatives similar to those who underly the Violations of Human Rights" condemned by the ECHR in the Dink v. Turkey case", the Lawyers denounced, presenting even more recent facts.

- The Victims' Family had asked to "Identify all those Responsible, who knew the Plan to Murder Hrant Dink, but didn't take preventive and Protective Measures", and "Reveal the Causes of their Inactivity", "make a direct Enquiry on the Relations between these Officials and the Illegal Group currently prosecuted (Comp. supra), as well as the support that they gave to them, in order to apply Dissuasive Criminal Sanctions", "Investigate on all those Responsible for having Destroyed, Covered-up and/or Modified Evidence after the Murder, while also treating the Murderer as a "Hero", (reference at the infamous Photo where the Murderer is saluted like a Hero by Smiling Turkish Policemen in front of a Turkish Flag, filmed by their pals as for Propaganda video material, etc).

+ But also to "Start a New Judicial Process on all Investigations led by Trabzon Prosecutor's office, which resulted in the Impunity of all those accused, while knowing perfectly well that any new enquiry should be directly led by the same Prosecutors who investigate on the Murder", as well as to "appoint Prosecutors able to conduct a Centralized Investigation, ...in order to determine the Cause of the Murder, and in particular if it was committed for Racist motivations based on the Ethnic (Armenian) origin of the Victim".

Through "an Independent and Impartial Judicial Mechanism, really able to Investigate, allowing also the Participation of the Victim's Family in the procedure", and "without obstacles against Freedom of Expression and of the Media", (i.e. with sufficient Transparency, according to ECHR's case-law), as Dink Family's Lawyers added at a more recent Letter to the CoE's Committee of Ministers.
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However, on the Contrary, "the ENQUIRY led by Istanbul Prosecutor's Office, not only was practically AMBADONED for a long Time, but the (Turkish) State Agents identified as SUSPECTS by the investigation, had even been .. REWARDED by obtaining Promotion", etc, the Victim's Lawyers denounced, (Comp. also Infra).
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+ The Letters that they "sent to (Turkey's) Ministers of Justice : Sadulah Ergin, Interior : Besir Ataley, and Foreign Affairs : Ahmet Davutoglou, in which were reiterated the above mentioned considerations, did not receive any Reply at all, until now", the Victims' Family observes.

On the contrary, "f.ex., on February 2012, during a Demonstration.... at Taksim square in Istaanbul, .. the (Turkish) Minister .. Idris Sahin, pronounced a Racist, Revengful and Provocative Speech against Armenians", during which appeared racist and discriminatory Placards accusing f.ex. "all Armenians (to be) Bastards", and/or "Praising the Murderers of Dink", etc., while "participants wearing the same White Scurf that Dink's Murderer had used during the Crime, had asked to march towards AGOS, the Media created by Dink", i.e. "reproducing precisely the same (brutal Hate) Spirit as that which had led to Hrant Dink's Murder",  the November 2012  Letter to the CoE denounces.
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Meanwhile, during a series of Exchanges of Letters and Meetings between Turkish State Authorities on 2011, they found that it would be "Impossible" for them "to present an Action Plan according to CoE's Committee of Ministers requirements" for the implementation of ECHR's Judgement in the Hrant Dink's Murder case, so that the Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglou reportedly proposed, instead, to sent (on behalf of Ankara's Government) a simple Letter to the CoE which would present, instead, merely the Judicial Procedures which had already been launched in the recent past, (without any substantial result, as the Victim's Family denounced Supra)...

- These Facts were revealed by an Article at Newspaper "Vatan", on May 2012, (later repeated under the Heading : "Another Cover-Up in the Hrant Dink case"),"but were not bellied, nor contested at all by anyone among the involved (Turkish) Ministers", Dink's Lawyer's Letter to the CoE points out, criticizing Ankara Government's  reluctance to make concrete steps in this case, instead of continuing to practically  refuse to really implement ECHR's judgement.
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+ Meanwhile, Ankara's failings became even more obvious, when .. 2 Turkish Judges who had condemned the Murdered Jounalist in the Past, triggering Threats which led to the cold-blood Killing on 2007, were elected by Ankara Politicians on 2012 as ..."Protectors (Ombudsmen) of Human Rights" !..

*+ In an ultime (?) Provocation by the main Turkish Political Establishment, Mehmet Omiroglou, the same Turkish Judge who condemned Murdered Journalist Hrant Dink by accusing him to "Insult Turkishness" (according to the infamous Article 310 of TPC), was elected by Turkish MEPs ... "Human Rights Ombudsman" at this end of November 2012.

- Mehmet Omiroglou's controversial "verdict (had) also triggered a series of life Threats that led to Dink's Assassination in 2007", several Media reminded.
This obviously scandalous and dangerous Choice (among .. "35 Candidates" initially !) took place despite strong critical Warnings not only by the Family of the Murdered man and of Human Rights Organizations, but even by the main Opposition Party CHP, which denounced that, in fact, "the (Turkish) Law on the Ombudsman is so much in favor of the(Turkish) Government", that "it almost Assigned the Ombudsman"....

+ Moreover, other Media have just revealed, that it's even a 2nd controversial Turkish Judge, "Muhidin Sicak, ... also in the list of ..judges who affirmed the shameful verdict against Hrant Dink" (comp. Supra), who was also "elected" as Member of the Turkish Parliament's so-called "Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) Council", which has only 5 Members...
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As a matter of General Principle, all MEPs' who participate in CoE's PanEuropean Parliamentary Assembly are required to respect Human Rights standards, or, otherwise, they face Sanctions, such as a risk for their credentials to be refused, or to be deprived of Voting and/or Speaking Rights, etc., as it has been already done, f.ex., vis a vis Russian, Ukranian and other MEPs in the recent Past, (while Greece had been pushed totally out of the CoE previously, for many Years).

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(NDLR : Fast Translation from Original texts partly in French).
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