Dink family’s lawyers hope to become co-plaintiff in Cage plot case

PanARMENIAN.Net - Lawyers for the Turkish-Armenian biweekly Akos have announced their intention to apply to the Istanbul 12th High Criminal Court on June 14 for a co-plaintiff status in the trial of a Naval Forces Command plan, the Cage Operation Action Plan. A co-plaintiff status grants a person or his/her legal representatives the right to take part in an ongoing legal action along with the prosecution, Today's Zaman reported.

One of the lawyers, Fethiye Cetin, said becoming a co-plaintiff in the Cage plot case is of the utmost importance for the equal existence of Turkey's minorities with the majority. "All civil society organizations and rights groups should stand by this case. There is a strong possibility that the Cage plan includes significant information on the killing of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink and other “operations.”

Becoming a co-plaintiff in this case will mean joining an investigation into the Dink murder and other killings in Turkey," Cetin remarked. Dink, the editor-in-chief of Akos, was shot dead in 2007 by an ultranationalist Turkish adolescent.

The Cage plan calls the killings of Armenian-Turkish journalist Dink, Catholic priest Andrea Santoro and three Christians in Malatya an "operation."

The suspects will stand trial on June 15. The indictment calls for jail sentences of up to 15 years for three admirals on charges of membership in a terrorist organization. It also seeks lengthy prison sentences for 30 other defendants on similar charges.