Epress.am News from Armenia
A prosecutor overseeing an investigation into claims of negligence by public officials in protecting Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was shot dead in 2007, has decided to prosecute 30 high-level public officials, including İstanbul’s former governor and police chief, on charges of “aiding and abetting murder” instead of negligence, reports Today’s Zaman.
The Anatolia news agency reported on Thursday that prosecutor Muammer Akkaş recently filed a non-prosecution order for the 30 suspects on negligence charges after the denial of permission from the İstanbul Governor’s Office to launch a probe against the suspects. The İstanbul Prosecutor’s Office appealed the decision at the İstanbul Regional Administrative Court, but the court ruled that the 30 public officials could not be prosecuted on charges of negligence due to a lack of evidence.
The İstanbul Prosecutor’s Office then filed a non-prosecution order with regards to the charges of negligence and has reportedly decided to move forward with the investigation by filing charges against the suspects of aiding and abetting the commission of Dink’s murder.
The initial investigation, which includes former İstanbul Governor Muammer Güler and former İstanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah, was launched following repeated demands from Dink family lawyers that a new investigation be launched into several public officials who were allegedly negligent in their duty to protect Dink.