Answering the questions of lawyers, Celalettin Cerrah blamed Hrant Dink: “Why didn’t he ask for protection?”

Dink family’s lawyer Hakan Bakırcıoğlu asked Cerrah whether he knew about the hearings in Şişli Courthouse, which made Dink a target. Bakırcıoğlu stated that the criminal complaint against Dink on charge of insulting Turkish nation was filed by Avni Usta, an official from Istanbul Security Directorate.

Cerrah said that he was very busy as he was the chief and stated that he heard the staff talking about the measures that were taken around the courthouse.

Lawyer Sebu Aslangil said that he was attacked in the courthouse, while Hrant Dink was with him.

Cerrah asked: “Haven’t you warned him? I know. They said that we should provide protection to Dink, but he didn’t accept it. Why?”

Yılmazer: the prime minister directed me

Ali Fuat Yılmazer also spoke in the hearing. He said that he wanted to inform Cerrah, but he didn’t listened to what he had to say. “Since he didn’t give me any direction, the prime minister directed me. Then we discovered the part that gendarmerie forces played in the murder. Now Engin Dinç says that they discovered it, but it was us. We just didn’t start a legal process. Engin Dinç started to talk about these issue after July 15, but we have been knowing it since the beginning.”