Turkish journalist may be sentenced to 17 years in prison for writing book about Hrant Dink

PanARMENIAN.Net - Nedim Shener, journalist of Turkish Milliyet periodical, may be sentenced to 17 years in prison for writing a book entitled "Dink's Murder and the Falsehood of Secret Services".



The book describes how Turkish security forces failed to prevent Dink's murder. Several lawsuits have been filed against Shener. The first hearing is due on June 26. The lawsuits have been filed by police officers Mukhitin Zenit, Head of Police Investigative Department Ramazan Akurek and Head of Istanbul Police Investigative Bureau Ali Fuat Yulmazar.



"I am alone with murderers in Istanbul Criminal Court. The officers who filed a case against me failed to conduct a proper investigation into the reports containing information about plans for assassinating Dink. They targeted me because I wrote the truth," the journalist said.



According to Mr. Shener, the investigators forged documents for concealing false information. "The false document issued by the Prime Minister's Investigative Committee revealed that falsehood. In particular, it says that Ataturk and Ilmazar failed to perform their duties. The report was undersigned by the Prime Minister. And I wrote about that. This is the only crime I committed."



Hrant Dink, Editor-in-Chief of Agos Armenian periodical, was killed near his office by nationalist Ogun Samast on January 19, 2007. However, Turkish media recently reported the name of a different killer.