10
Jul 2019
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Alert created on: 19 Jan 2017
Turkey
Masterminds Still not Condemned, Ten Years After the Assassination of Journalist Hrant Dink
Source of threatState
CategoryImpunity for murder
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On 19 January 2007, Hrant Dink, the Turkish-Armenian journalist and founder of Agos newspaper, was shot dead at 15:05 on the street in front of his office in Istanbul. The murderer, a 17-year-old Turkish nationalist, and some of his accomplices were apprehended and imprisoned but not all parties involved in the crime have been investigated. In 2010, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Turkish authorities have failed to protect Hrant Dink’s rights to life and freedom of expression. Turkey’s Constitutional Court ruled that that civil servants and institutions must be investigated for their alleged roles in the journalist’s murder. Public servants who allegedly failed to protect the journalist and prepared false reports are currently being prosecuted at Istanbul 14th penal court.
Updates
10 Jul 2019
On 1 July 2019, the İstanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court issued its ruling on nine defendants whose files were separated from the main Hrant Dink murder trial. The court concluded that murder "was an organised crime" and sentenced seven defendants to prison, ranging from 99 years, 6 months to 2 years, 9 months. The lawyers of Dink family have appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeals against this verdict, considering that defendants should be convicted of "membership of an armed terrorist organisation", rather than "membership of an illegal criminal organisation."
Additional Information
- Decision of the Turkish Constitutional Court on the application of Rahil Dink and others (Application Number: 2012/848), 17 July 2014, Off. Gaz. 12 November 2014 -29173 (English translation)
- Article published by Bir Gün (in Turkish): "Hrant Dink'i korumaktan sorumlu olmadığını savundu"
- Chronology of the case published by Bianet (in Turkish):"10 Yıldır Çözülmeyen Dava, Gelmeyen Adalet"
- CPJ statement: "Hope for justice still frail in Hrant Dink's 2007 murder case"
Follow-ups
19 Jan 2017
Ten years on, OSCE media freedom representative calls the authorities of Turkey to increase their efforts to ensure that justice is served in the case of journalist Hrant Dink
Relevant CoE instruments
Disclaimer
19 Jan 2017
Case of Dink v.Turkey, ECHR Judgment of 14 September 2010 (Applications n°2668/07, 6102/08, 30079/08, 7072/09 and 7124/09) : Failure of authorities to protect life of a journalist following death threats and to protect freedom of expression of a journalist who had commented on identity of Turkish citizens of Armenian extraction