20 years for Dink murder, 28 years for book about this murder

PanARMENIAN.Net - More than two years after Agos editor Hrant Dink was shot dead, a reporter stands trial for writing about the circumstances surrounding the murder. For his alleged crimes, he faces 28 years in prison, eight years more than what the murder suspect would serve if convicted.



Milliyet daily reporter Nedim Şener's book "Dink Murder and Intelligence Lies" focused on the intelligence deficiencies by security agencies before and after Dink was shot dead, leading to a police officer and three senior Police Department intelligence chiefs filing complaints against him.



Dink, who was prosecuted for insulting Turkishness, was killed in front of Agos's office. The chief suspect, a teenage nationalist, is currently on trial along with several alleged accomplices who are accused of influencing the culprit.



Milliyet daily reported that the complaints have led the Istanbul Prosecutor's Office to charge Şener with publication of secret information and turning anti-terrorism officials into targets. The reporter faces a maximum prison term of 28 years if found guilty.



Şener, speaking to Anatolia news agency on his way to the opening hearing yesterday, said he is facing a total of 28 years in prison if convicted in two cases on charges of obtaining classified documents and insulting government officials.



Şener has two trials pending as a result of the complaints. Yesterday's trial at the Istanbul Second Court was on violating official secrets. Şener, who faces up to eight years in jail on this charge, defended himself by saying that the information in his book was from phone conversations that were made public on televisions and newspapers months before his book was printed. "These conversations are also on the Internet and can be found when one searches Google," he said.



Şener said the trial aimed at preventing the public from learning the facts about Dink's murder and press freedom. He asked the court to find him not guilty. The judge decided to postpone the trial to another date for the defendant's lawyers to prepare for the prosecutor's case.



Milliyet Editor-in-Chief Sedat Ergin told Anatolia news agency his presence at court was to support not only Şener but also press freedom in Turkey. "We are showing this solidarity in order to ensure press freedom in respected," he said. The Turkish Journalists' Association, or TGC, released a statement on the case, seeing it as "worrying" and a problem for democracy, Hurriyet Daily News reported.