Dink’s Family Goes Against The Judges Who Prevented The Trial Of The Police Officers

Murdered journalist Hrant Dink’s family has filed a complaint with the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) against the three judges for not doing their duty.

Lawyer Fethiye Çetin accuses judges Atilla Sarp, İlhan Hanağası and Sadettin Yaman for “violating the law by making decisions without legal ground” and “restricting the effective right to apply to courts.”

The lawyers asked for legal and administrative investigation of the three judges

Completing their application today (September 25), the lawyers want to initiate a legal and administrative investigation against the three judges and inspect their decisions.

The application of the lawyers emphasizes the fact that on June 27, the court ended the investigation of 1.5 years by the inspectors of the Ministry of Interior with one paragraph long decision without any legal ground. The investigation was conducted to determine the role of the  Istanbul Police Department in the murder of Hrant Dink on January 19, 2007.

“With this decision, the chance to prosecute the eight police officers ended”

The Regional Administrative Court refused to grant permission for the investigation of any of the officers, in spite of the information the inspectors were able to uncover against the officers and the conclusion by the experts that they had some responsibility.

The lawyer emphasized that with this decision, the chance to prosecute Istanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah, Intelligence Branch Director Ahmet İlhan Güler and the eight police officers ended.

The investigation by the inspectors and the two expert reports had showed that the administrators and officers in the Police Department, from the lowest to the highest rank, could be held responsible for the murder of Hrant Dink.

The decision of the Regional Administrative Court goes to the European Court of Human Rights

On June 27, the Regional Administrative Court of Istanbul had decided that Istanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah, Intelligence Branch Director Ahmet İlhan Güler, Intelligence Branch Vice Director Bülent Köksal, Chief of the Office of the Intelligence Branch İbrahim Pala, Section Chief Şevki Eldivan, Desk Chief Volkan Akbulak and police officers Bahadır Tekin and Özcan Özkan had no fault in Dink’s murder and therefore there was no need to grant permission for their investigation.

Reacting to the decision, the lawyers of the Dink family decided to go to the ECHR the third time. (EÖ/EÜ/TB)