Bid to force probe into MİT fails

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

This file photo shows a group of protestors at a rally to remember Hrant Dink. DHA photo

A court in Ankara has rejected an appeal by the family of slain journalist Hrant Dink against a prosecutor’s decision not to investigate two officials of the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) who allegedly warned Dink over his writings.

A prosecutor had previously decided that the MİT officials’ action, which was perceived by many as a threat, amounted to “negligence” but no investigation could be initiated because the alleged offence exceeded the statute of limitations.

The 1st Sincan Court for Serious Crimes, where the Dink family had lodged the appeal, ruled that the prosecutor’s decision was in line with the law and that no new evidence had been obtained on the issue in the meantime to necessitate a fresh consideration.

Dink, an Armenian-Turkish journalist, had been summoned to the office of the Istanbul Governor’s Office on Feb. 24, 2004, after his Agos newspaper published an article arguing that Sabiha Gökçen, the adopted daughter of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, was actually an Armenian. Dink was allegedly cautioned about his writings and warned that they might make him a target.

After Dink was gunned down on Jan. 19, 2007, it emerged that the authorities had never provided him with protection even though they were aware of the threats. The Dink family lawyers had argued that the day of his murder should be taken as a basis for the statute of limitations on that grounds that the negligence had continued to that date.