Police Officers Accused of Negligence Become Plaintiffs in Book Trial

On Friday, 26 June, the Istanbul 11th Heavy Penal Court continued the hearing of the case against journalist Nedim Şener, who has written a book about the murder of journalist Hrant Dink.

Şener recounts the negligence of police and gendarmerie officers prior to the murder, accusations that have been made by other reports on the case.

He stands accused of revealing classified information, of turning people on duty against terrorism into public targets, and of attempting to influence the judiciary.

In the case of his book, entitled "The Dink Murder and Intelligence Lies", the journalist faces up to 28 years imprisonment.

Police officers accepted as plaintiffs

At the hearing on Friday, the Istanbul court accepted  the demands of police officers Ramazan Akyürek, Muhittin Zenit and Ali Fuat Yılmazer to become third party plaintiffs. The court agreed that they had been damaged by the alleged "targeting" of the book; the court decreed that they had not been damaged under the other accusations.

The court declined the demand by Şener and his lawyers to obtain video recordings of murder suspect Erhan Tuncel, saying that the request was unrelated to the book.

The court case was postponed until 23 October. Three indictments have been prepared on the book.

Supporters of Şener attended the court hearing: Istanbul MP Ufuk Uras, dancer Zeynep Tanbay, lawyers Fethiye Çetin and Fikret İlkiz, members of the Dink family, and others.

"Truth must emerge"

Following the hearing, Şener made a statement, saying: "We will do everything for the truth to come out. Because of the efforts of journalists and lawyers, eight gendarmerie officers from Trabzon have been put on trial, but there is still no police officer in the defence box."

Nail Güreli, former president of the Turkey Journalists' Society, said, "We hope that the court's decision will be made according to the right of the public to be informed, and according to the supremacy of democracy and the law." (EÖ/EÜ/AG)