Dink lawyers argue phone records sent are inadequate

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

A group of demonstrators gathered in Beşiktaş and marched toward the Istanbul Courthouse yesterday, protesting the long court periods. DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÜREL

The Dink family’s lawyers yesterday said phone records pertaining to the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink were inadequate.

The records were recently sent to court by Turkey’s Telecommunications Directorate (TİB) after months of dawdling.

Records sent by the TİB cover only a limited area in the vicinity of the crime scene, lawyer Fethiye Çetin said, adding that they had requested all records from an area measuring 500 meters long.

“The TİB records are in the thousands. It will take time to go through all these. We are going to present our statements regarding the issue after we are done examining and scrutinizing,” she said.

The TİB had initially refused to comply with a court request to deliver the records, claiming the demand would amount to “violation of privacy.” In recent months, the TİB had continued dragging its feet by advancing further objections to the request to obtain the records.

The TİB finally agreed to the court’s request and sent the records last week.

The Dink family’s lawyers said in court yesterday that the roles played by all officials implicated in Hrant Dink’s assassination had been exposed, from the Chief of Staff to the government, media and the judiciary. The concerted harmony in which these officials acted after the incident indicated the whole affair was coordinated from a single center, they said.

The case was postponed to Dec. 26 for further investigation into the phone records.

A group of demonstrators gathered in Beşiktaş and marched toward the Istanbul Courthouse yesterday, protesting the failure of authorities to bring the case to a resolution.

Dink, a Turkish journalist of Armenian origin, was the chief editor for weekly Agos, a paper published in both Turkish and Armenian. He was shot in front of his office in January 2007; triggerman Ogün Samast was sentenced to 22 years in prison last month for the murder.