ISTANBUL // A Turkish court yesterday handed down a life sentence to a militant nationalist for his role in the murder five years ago of Hrant Dink, a journalist of Armenian descent - a decision critics claim is an attempt to cover up the suspected involvement of members of Turkey's security forces.
Dink, who was hated by nationalists because he publicly said the killing of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by Turks during the First World War amounted to genocide, was gunned down in Istanbul on January 19, 2007, by Ogun Samast, a nationalist from Trabzon. Samast, who was a minor at the time of the murder, was sentenced to nearly 23 years in prison by a juvenile court last year.
The trial against Samast's accomplices from Trabzon ended after four years yesterday, with Judge Rustem Eryilmaz of Istanbul's high criminal court sentencing Yasin Hayal, a right-wing extremist, to life in prison. Erhan Tuncel, a former police informer and another main suspect in the trial, was acquitted of aiding and abetting in the Dink case, but sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison for his role a bomb attack committed by Hayal in Trabzon three years before the killing of Dink. Both were cleared of charges of membership in a terrorist organisation, Turkish media reported.
After the verdict, scuffles broke out in the courtroom as supporters of Dink's family protested against the verdict, which they saw as too lenient.
The verdict came despite lawyers for Dink's family asking the court yesterday to delay its decision because the suspected involvement of officials in the crime had not been sufficiently investigated. Speaking for the team of lawyers, Ismail Cem Halavut told the court the true dimension of the plot to kill Dink was not clear. Public officials allegedly involved in the conspiracy had not been charged because numerous attempts from Dink's family to bring them to court had been rejected, he said.
Suspicions of an attempted cover-up received a boost when the European Court of Human Rights in France ruled in 2010 that Turkey was guilty of failing to protect Dink's life. Police in Istanbul and Trabzon "had been informed of the likelihood of an assassination attempt and even of the identity of the suspected instigators", the court said. After the crime, authorities refused to allow investigations against high-ranking officers of the security forces, the judges said.
In a hearing last week, Hayal, one of the main suspects, told the court that state officials had led him to play a role in the murder of Dink and that he now feared for his life. "It was the state of the Turkish Republic that dragged me into this and that made use of my youth and my enthusiasm," he said. Hayal's father told reporters last year that unnamed officials called him after Dink's death to congratulate him on his son's work.
As the final hearing of the case got under way yesterday, several hundred demonstrators, including Dink's widow, Rakel, staged a protest march near the courthouse in Istanbul's Besiktas district.
Shouting "We are all Hrants" and "We are all Armenians", the protesters demanded that high-ranking officials such as Celalettin Cerrah, Istanbul's police chief at the time of the murder, and Cemil Cicek, a former justice minister and the current speaker of parliament, be tried for their suspected involvement in the case.
Banners carried by the protesters read "We will not forget" and "We will not forgive". A group calling itself "Friends of Hrant" is to stage a larger protest tomorrow, the fifth anniversary of the murder.
Reading a statement on behalf of the group, Garo Paylan, an official at an Armenian school in Istanbul, said the judiciary wanted to limit the investigation into the crime to "two or three hit men", but Friends of Hrant would make sure that the search for the suspected backers of the killers would continue.
"We will stay on the streets until you are being dragged one by one from your hiding places," Mr Paylan said.
Fethiye Cetin, another lawyer for Dink's family, said she would try to set new legal investigations into the suspected conspiracy to kill the journalist into motion. "It is a new beginning. There are many avenues that we can take," Ms Cetin told reporters after yesterday's verdict.
tseibert@thenational.ae
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
Company profile
Company: Verity
Date started: May 2021
Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Size: four team members
Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000
Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors
The biog
Name: Salem Alkarbi
Age: 32
Favourite Al Wasl player: Alexandre Oliveira
First started supporting Al Wasl: 7
Biggest rival: Al Nasr
Neil Thomson – THE BIO
Family: I am happily married to my wife Liz and we have two children together.
Favourite music: Rock music. I started at a young age due to my father’s influence. He played in an Indian rock band The Flintstones who were once asked by Apple Records to fly over to England to perform there.
Favourite book: I constantly find myself reading The Bible.
Favourite film: The Greatest Showman.
Favourite holiday destination: I love visiting Melbourne as I have family there and it’s a wonderful place. New York at Christmas is also magical.
Favourite food: I went to boarding school so I like any cuisine really.
German intelligence warnings
- 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Challenge Cup result:
1. UAE 3 faults
2. Ireland 9 faults
3. Brazil 11 faults
4. Spain 15 faults
5. Great Britain 17 faults
6. New Zealand 20 faults
7. Italy 26 faults
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5