Court of Cassation gives its ruling in Hrant Dink case

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The appeal process was concluded yesterday (June 21) in relation to the judgment of the İstanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court for the case on the killing of Hrant Dink, the editor-in-chief of Agos newspaper in 2007. 

In the judgment of the first instance court, 37 persons were acquitted, most of them public officers and 26 had received prison sentences. 

The 3rd Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation has upheld the verdict for some suspects while reversing it for others. In the justification of its ruling, the supreme court stated that the gendarmerie intelligence and the police intelligence officers were in the loop, together and in the same period of time and that they acted in an organized manner and for an organizational purpose. 

The Court of Cassation argued that such large-scale and organized actions could not occur without being planned, randomly, and that these issues should be evaluated together. 

The court has therefore upheld the acquittals of Engin Dinç, Trabzon Police Intelligence Branch Chief of the period, Reşat Altay, Trabzon Chief of Police of the time, and Ahmet İlhan Güler, the İstanbul Intelligence Branch Chief for "negligent homicide."

The supreme court has also upheld the verdicts of conviction for Ali Fuat Yılmazer and Ramazan Akyürek, the then Chiefs of Police for "deliberate killing," and for police officers Metin Balta and Yakup Kurtaran and journalist Ercan Gün for ‘membership to terrorist organization.’ 

The court has, on the other hand, reversed the verdicts of Volkan Şahin, a gendarme in Trabzon for "negligent homicide," of Şükrü Yıldız, a civil inspector for "helping a terrorist organization," and of Mehmet Ali Özkılınç for " membership to a terrorist organization." The justification for the reversals was that there was no direct and conclusive evidence in the file that is above suspicion.  

The requests of the gendarme and police officers Muharrem Demirkale, Okan Şimşek, Veysal Şahin, Gazi Günay, Yavuz Karakaya, Osman Gülbel, and Hasan Durmuşoğlu to be released were rejected by the court. 

What happened in the second trial?

In the second trial of the case on the murder of Hrant Dink that started in 2016, after the lawsuit filed at İstanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court against civil servants was combined with the main suit, the court reached a judgment on March 26, 2021. 

In this case with 77 suspects, the files of 13 persons were separated, since they could not be brought to the court to plead. 

37 people were acquitted and 27 people were given sentences. While four people received life imprisonment, two received aggravated life imprisonment. One person died while standing trial. 

Those who have been acquitted: Adem Sarıgöl, Adnan Acar, Atilla Güçlüoğlu, Muhammer Ay, Metehan Kadir Yıldırım, Niyazi Malkoç, Cevat Eser, Rahmi Özer, Resul Kütükoğlu, Tevfik Cantürk, Ünsal Gürel, Ecevit Emir, Emre Cingöz, Hacı Şefik Şimşek, Eyüp Temel Ahmet Çetiner, Birol Ustaoğlu, Sabri Uzun, Hüseyin Yılmaz, Ali Poyraz, Mikdat Özbek, Hamdi Egbatan, Mustafa Küçük, Ergün Yorulmaz, Musa Yıldırım, Hacı Ömer Ünalır, Reşat Altay, Ali Barış Sevindik, Murat Bayrak, Tamer Bülent Demirel, Yusuf Bozca, Yüksel Avan, Hamza Celepoğlu, Engin Dinç, Ercan Demir, Ahmet İlhan Güler, Muhittin Zenit and Celalettin Cerrah

Those whose files have been separated: Fethullah Gülen, Zekeriya Öz, Ekrem Dumanlı, Metin Canbay, Yunus Yazar, Faruk Mercan, Adem Yavuz Arslan, Halil İbrahim Koca, Yılmaz Angın, Mehmet Akif Yılmaz, Ömer Faruk Kartın, Coşgun Çakar and Serkan Şahan

Those given prison sentences: 

Ercan Gün, 10 years for "being a member of an armed terrorist organization,"
Abdullah Dinç, 6 years and 3 months for "being a member of an armed terrorist organization,"
Ahmet Faruk Aydoğdu, 6 years and 3 months for "being a member of an armed terrorist organization,"
Hasan Durmuşoğlu, 12 years and 6 months for "negligence" and 3 years and 9 months for "demolishing of official documents,"
Bekir Yokuş, 10 years for "helping murder,"
Önder Araz, 3 years 9 months for "demolishing official documents,"
Şükrü Yıldız, 3 years and 9 months for "knowingly helping a terrorist organization while not being under the hierarchical structure of the organization,"
Metin Balta, 3 years 9 months for "being a member of an armed organization,"
Mehmet Ali Özkılıç, 7 years and 6 months for "being a member of an armed terrorist organization" and 1 year and 18 months for "aiding an offender,"
Osman Gülbel, 16 years and 8 months for "negligent homicide,"
Yakup Kurtaran, 7 years and 6 months for "being a member of an armed terrorist organization,"
Yavuz Karakaya, a life sentence for "Attempt to overthrow the constitutional order" and 12 years and 6 months for "murder by using others,"
Mehmet Ayhan, 12 years and 6 months for "negligent homicide" and 3 years and 9 months for "demolishing official documents,"
Onur Karakaya, 12 years and 6 months for "negligent homicide" and 3 years and 9 months for "demolishing official documents,"
Faruk Sarı, 12 years and 6 months for "negligent homicide" and 3 years and 9 months for "demolishing official documents,"
Muharrem Demirkale, a life sentence for "murder by using others" and a life sentence for "attempt to overthrow the constitutional order,"
Okan Şimşek, 25 years for "murder by using others" and 3 years and 4 months for "forgery of official documents,"
Veysal Şahin, 25 years for "murder by using others" and 3 years and 4 months for "forgery of official documents,"
Gazi Günay, 25 years for "murder by using others" and 3 years and 4 months for "forgery of official documents,"
Özkan Mumcu, 7 years for "membership to an armed terrorist organization"
Ali Fuat Yılmazer, aggravated life sentence for "murder by using others" and 4 years and 6 months for "demolishing official documents,"
Ramazan Akyürek, aggravated life sentence for "murder by using others" and 5 years, 7 months, and 15 days for "demolishing official documents" and 7 years and 6 months for "forgery of official documents,"
Metin Yıldız, 3 years and 4 months for "forgery of official documents,"
Ali Öz, 25 years for "murder by using others" and 3 years and 4 months for "forgery of official documents,"
Volkan Şahin, 12 years and 6 months for ''negligent homicide."

(HA/PE)