Dink's Suspended Sentence of 6 Months Recognized Void

PanARMENIAN.Net - A Turkish appeals court on Friday overturned a lower court's decision to convict Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink for insulting the country's national identity in a series of articles, and ordered a new trial. The journalist was convicted in July under a clause in the Turkish penal code that European Union officials say is incompatible with EU norms on freedom of expression. Dink, a Turkish citizen and editor of the bilingual Armenian-Turkish newspaper Agos, was convicted and given a six-month suspended prison sentence. Dink said Armenians' enmity toward the Turks "has a poisoning effect in your blood" and insisted the court took the article out of context to mean that Turkish blood is poison. The appeals court said the conviction was based on "faulty assessments" and ordered a new trial. "The court hearing will be held in Istanbul March 16. The prosecution builds on statements in the press that pressure is put on judicial bodies of Turkey," Hrant Dink said, reported RFE/RL.