Şener: Dink Decision Confirmed my Arguments

The 9^th hearing of the Oda TV trial was held before the Istanbul 16^th High Criminal Court on Monday (23 January). Journalists Ahmet Şık and Nedim Şener are among the defendants of this case.

Prosecutor Mehmet Berk substituted for the prosecutor who is usually handling the case because he was absent due to health reasons. The session was attended by 13 defendants, two of whom are not detained.

It was announced that plaintiff Nazlı Ilıcak abandoned her complaint. The hearing was observed by Republican People's Party (CHP) Deputy Melda Onur, prosecutor İlhan Cihaner, journalists Oktay Ekşi, Ferai Tınç, Haluk Şahin and Ruşen Çakır and lawyer Eşber Yağmurdereli.

A list of five names requested from the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) needed for the preparation of an expert report has not been received by the court board yet. The file of defendant Kaşif Kozinoğlu who died in the meantime as the result of a heart attack was separated from the main file. Additionally, it was announced that the records of a conference given by Yalçın Küçük in February 2011 in Gebze have not been sent to court yet.

It was noted that defendant Doğan Yurdakul needed an angiography. The judge declared that the related decision was to be given once the report would have been sent to the court board.

Author Yalçın Küçük was the first defendant who spoke at the Monday hearing. He criticized that the decision of the last hearing was not read out to the defendants directly. He claimed, "I have never seen something like that. In Silivri [prison] the decision is being read to us directly, even if it is midnight".

Defendant Hanefi Avcı completed his speech of defence that he had started at the last session. By means of a projection Avcı explained technical details how documents from computers at the Oda TV office that were also included in the indictment were created at a different computer and then transferred to the Oda TV computers.

Avcı emphasized that he was on anti-terror duties for 20 years and that such a document of an organization was impossible to be true.

"Organizational documents are confidential and have a pass word. The staff needs several weeks to decipher them. But this document overflows with information, everything is clearly written. If somebody would have brought such a document to me at the intelligence I would have asked 'Who do you want to slander'. Such a document cannot be prepared in this simple way. These documents have two pages of footnotes. Which document of an organization gives reference to other writings?" Avcı questioned.

Avcı continued with his defence after an intermission given at around noon time. He claimed that he was tried in the scope of this case because he wrote the book "Simons in the Golden Horn". He noted that he did not write the book upon anybody's order or instructions.

Avcı's lawyer Refik Ali Uçarcı reminded that substituted prosecutor Mehmet Berk opened a criminal case and a trial with a compensation claim against Avcı on the grounds of the aforementioned book. Hence, this could be the reason for prejudice, Uçarcı indicated.

Uçarcı adverted to a statement made by journalist Nazlı Ilıcak in a television program who had said, "These journalists will be released". In this context, Uçarcı pointed to Court President Mehmet Ekinci who said in an interview about the case, "I have not even been able yet to review the files".

The lawyer conceded that it was normal that Ekinci, who was appointed to the case all of a sudden, had not been able to review all the related files but that this did not mean that he was not reviewing them at all.

In an additional speech of defence, journalist Nedim Şener said that although Ilıcak took back the complaint, she continued her duty as judge, prosecutor and executioner and that "she should come here and explain everything".

Şener recalled the decision of the Hrant Dink trial and remarked that he was pleased about the fact that he was not released at the last hearing. He declared that the decision of the Dink case confirmed the things he wrote.

Şener stated that the forces behind the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Dink was the counter-guerrilla just as said by the Trabzon Governor. He added that he would only be able to obtain peace of mind after that trial would have been clarified.

Subsequent to Şener's speech, the written defence of OdaTV.com website administrator Ahmet Mümtaz İdil was read at court.

The trial was postponed to 27 January. (NV/VK)