European court fines Turkey 105,000 euros for slain Armenian journalist's case

The court also found Turkey guilty of failing to protect Dink’s right to due legal process and ordered the state to pay 105,000 euros to the murdered journalist’s family in total compensation, as well as an extra 28,595 euros to the court for expenses, according to the statement, which was released on Dink’s birthday.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday that it would not appeal the case at the European court. In its statement, the ministry said precautions would be taken to prevent similar breaches of rights in the future.

The case at the European court was initially an investigation into Dink’s conviction for “insulting Turkishness” in his column in the weekly newspaper Agos. The Turkish journalist of Armenian origin had brought the case against the Turkish state to the European court.

After Dink was killed in front of Agos’ building in Istanbul in January 2007, his family opened an additional case at the European court, accusing Turkey of failing to protect the journalist’s right to life. The two cases were later merged.

Turkey’s defense at the European court attracted widespread criticism after it drew parallels between neo-Nazism and Dink’s perspectives. The defense also said Dink did not ask for personal protection, a fact it suggested meant he was not under threat.

Dink family lawyer Arzu Becerik said the European court’s verdict would significantly affect the ongoing criminal case on the journalist’s murder, private news channel CNNTürk reported.

Becerik said they had informed the European court of their criminal complaints against public officers who had allegedly neglected to protect Dink, and of the lack of results from such complaints.

The European court’s decision on the breach of the right to due legal process will play a role in the ongoing Turkish case about Dink’s murder, Becerik said. The current case in Turkish courts “is not targeting the real criminals and is not capable enough of doing so,” the lawyer added.

“Unfortunately none of the decisions will bring back Hrant; that is why our happiness is bitter,” Aris Nalcı, the legally responsible editor of weekly Agos, said after the verdict was announced.

“What other decision could have been made in a tragic situation like this?” Etyen Mahcupyan, a former editor-in-chief of Agos, asked. “Turkey has become used to these kinds of cases.”


/Hurriyet Daily News/