Police Department’s Head of Intelligence testifies before the court on Hrant Dink case

The hearing of the case on the assassination of Editor in Chief of Agos newspaper Hrant Dink has been held today. Being charged with crimes of ‘deliberate killing through neglect and malpractice of duty’, Head of Intelligence of Police Department Engin Dinç appeared before the court to testify.

In his testimony, Dinç said: “On 17 February 2006, I had informed the Police Intelligence Department in writing about Yasin Hayal’s intention to kill Hrant Dink. And, one day before the official writing, on February 16^th, I had personally called Head of İstanbul Police Intelligence Department Ahmet İlhan Güler on the phone. I told him that Yasin Hayal was a person who does what he says he would and that Hrant Dink should be protected. On 28 June 2006, I had been appointed, with the approval of the Governor’s Office, to a different unit in Trabzon’s intelligence department. On 30 June 2006, I officially left the unit. Then, I was appointed to Afyon Intelligence Department as the chair of the branch. The murder took place 7 months after I had left Trabzon.”

Charged with ‘deliberate killing through neglect and malpractice of duty’, Dinç has been tried without arrest. In his testimony today, he also said to the judge: “I think that I should not be appearing in front of you and I should not be a suspect here,” and, also adding, “I think that if we had stayed in Trabzon, we would have carried out an operation against that group without reaching this point!”

Friends of Hrant: ‘We are not giving up on going after the murderers’

The group named ‘Friends of Hrant’ has gathered in front of the court before today’s hearing, which is the 15th hearing of the case. As they read their press release, other groups of supporters – among whom were HDP MP Garo Paylan, and journalists Hayko Bağdat, Yetvart Danzikyan, and Banu Güven – also held posters that read ‘Justice for Hrant’ and ‘This case is not over until we say it is!’

Read by Banu Güven, the press release of the group included a reminder about the fact that almost a decade has passed over the murder of Hrant Dink, along with the following statements: “...Because, we know that once we shed light into this murder, we are going to live in this country in a better way. We are not giving up going after the murderers for the sake of the future of this land!”

Also mentioning the first anniversary of the Ankara massacre, Güven said: “We bow in respect in the memory of those walked the same path as Hrant Dink and who lost their lives (last year on October 10.”

Source: https://www.birgun.net/haber-detay/istihbarat-daire-baskani-dink-davasinda-ifade-verdi-130910.html