EU-Turkey Commission: Anyone, who is involved in Hrant Dink's murder, must be punished

PanARMENIAN.Net - The trial over murderers of journalist Hrant Dink should disclose all facts connected this case. "We stress the importance and necessity for a complete explanation of the circumstances surrounding Hrant Dink's murder. The facts of this case, including possible involvement of officials, have to be brought into the light of day. The Turkish State will be closely watched by both the people of Turkey who want a just and open democracy with no dark corners, and their friends outside Turkey who support the reform process towards gaining full membership of the European Union. Consequently, it is highly important that everybody who was involved in the murder of Hrant Dink is punished," head of the EU-Turkey Commission Joost Lagendijk and member of the same commission Cem Özdemir stated. Their statement underlines the necessity to remove Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, which repeatedly prosecuted Hrant Dink and other intellectuals, ABHaber reported.



Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code supposes criminal punishment for those who have 'insulted Turkishness', to which particularly refers any mentioning of the Armenian Genocide. Hrant Dink, writers Elif Şafak and Taner Akçam, as well as Nobel Prize laureate Orhan Pamuk were prosecuted under this article. Editor-in-Chief of Armenian-Turkish 'Agos' bilingual Hrant Dink was gunned down on January 19, 2007 by 17-year-old Ogun Samast.