Writers prosecuted for criticizing Hrant Dink trial

 Dink, the former editor-in-chief of Agos, was shot in broad daylight outside his office on Jan. 19, 2007. Although evidence pointing to the complicity of security forces in the assassination came up during the trial, the court said the hitman had acted alone and one other man was guilty of soliciting him to murder. However, this decision is likely to be overturned by the Supreme Court of Appeals, which is currently reviewing the verdict.

Koptaş and Kıvanç, who were guests of the Söz Sende (It’s Your Turn to Speak) program on HaberTürk television hosted by Balçiçek İlter, criticized the trial and the verdict. The program was aired on Jan. 17, 2012. Both men said Dink’s real murderer was “the state.” An Antalya resident, Aydın Taşçı, filed a complaint with the İstanbul Prosecutor’s Office the next day. Taşçı in his petition said that Koptaş and Kıvanç were “obviously Armenians.” He wrote that the two men referred to the state of the Republic of Turkey as a “murderer” and used “unflattering” words about the trial.

According to news reports on Thursday, İstanbul Deputy Chief Prosecutor Fikret Seçen has decided to process the petition. Taşçı testified a second time to an Antalya prosecutor, reiterating his earlier complaint. He said the two men’s statements had “belittled” the Republic of Turkey and its judiciary. Reports said Koptaş and Kıvanç are expected to testify to Seçen on Thursday.

Hakan Bakırcıoğlu, a lawyer representing the Agos newspaper, reacted to the investigation, saying it should never have been launched. He said it had emerged at every step of the investigation that public officers were responsible in the Dink murder in a way that leaves no room for dispute. He said that in addition to the evidence presented to the courts, a report that came out at the end of a probe conducted by the State Inspection Board (DDK) — a presidential body — and another one by the Prime Ministerial Inspection Board as well as a verdict from the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) openly blamed several public officers of dereliction of duty.

He also said that even the prosecutor in the Dink trial had openly said that the murder trial had not been conducted properly. He said the views stated by Koptaş and Kıvanç bear no criminal element and that the prosecutor’s office should not have taken the complaint seriously.