Imprisoned journalist: Hrant Dink’s killers roam free
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Thousands of people gather in front of the building of weekly Agos, where journalist Hrant Dink was killed in 2007, to mark the fifth anniversary of his murder. DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÜREL
The killers of Turkish-Armenian jounalist Hrant Dink remain free, imprisoned colleague Nedim Şener said yesterday during a hearing in the ongoing OdaTV case, in which journalists Şener and Ahmet Şık, as well as 10 other suspects are being tried.“I was not surprised when I heard the verdict in Hrant Dink murder case. When they [officials] denied that there was an organization behind the murder, I kept on searching for the clues of an illegal network. Ironically, that’s why I am here now, accused of being a member of an illegal organization,” Şener told Hürriyet Daily News yesterday.
“The ones who should be ashamed are not in prison, they are free,” Şener said.
Şener said he had nothing in common with the other suspects, when asked by a reporter. “None of us knew each other before the case. [Former police chief] Hanefi Avcı used to investigate [author] Yalçın Küçük due to his possible contacts with the PKK [outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party]. In the indictment Avcı seems like he was receiving orders from Küçük,” Şener said.
Şener also asked his wife about their daughter’s school report card when he entered the courtroom.
‘There is not an organization here’ Avcı says
During yesterday’s hearing in Istanbul, Avcı continued his plea. Avcı made a digital presentation to the court, which he was allowed to prepare using an offline computer while in prison.
In the indictment, Avcı was accused of being in contact with other suspects, who are all being tried for plotting to overthrow the government by fomenting chaos in society. The indictment also said Avcı’s book was found on OdaTV computers before it was published.
Avcı said only a virus could transfer so many documents regarding the book to the OdaTV computers on the same day.
"All the documents have the same date and time. No CD, USB or transformer can transfer this many large documents to a computer that fast. Only a virus has that capacity,” he said.
Avcı said his son was a computer engineer and that he had asked for some technological help from him to figure out details.
Avcı also said in the “organizational documents” that there were no codifications or even simple implications.
"I have worked as an expert on terrorist organizations for decades. I know how an organizational document must be written. They are codified in a secret way to hide the information from police or any possible others. But there is a document in the indictment titled ‘hanefi.doc.’ No one would name a secret document like this," he said.
The case is expected to continue this week.
Alongside many journalists and deputies, officials from the Swedish, Dutch and British embassies followed the case in the courtroom as well. Other suspects in the case include journalists Soner Yalçın, Barış Terkoğlu, as well as OdaTV correspondents Müyesser Yıldız and İklim Bayraktar.
