Requested sentences announced in the retrial of the Hrant Dink murder case

The prosecutor's opinion has been announced in the Hrant Dink murder case, for which the Court of Cassation had issued a reversal decision.

Detained defendants Okan Şimşek, Gazi Günay, and Veysal Şahin, along with the lawyers for the parties, attended the hearing at the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court. 11 defendants, 4 of whom are in custody, joined the hearing via the Audio and Video Information System (SEGBİS) from the cities where they are located.

In the hearing, the public prosecutor, who announced their opinion on the merits, requested that defendants Veysal Şahin, Ali Öz, Gazi Günay, Hasan Durmuşoğlu, Mehmet Ayhan, Okan Şimşek, Onur Karakaya, and Osman Gülbel be sentenced to two aggravated life sentences for the crimes of "premeditated murder" and "violation of the Constitution."

In the opinion, it was requested that defendant Bekir Yokuş be sentenced to an aggravated life sentence and 22 years and 6 months to 30 years in prison for the crimes of "aiding in premeditated murder" and "violation of the Constitution," while it was requested that the case against defendant Muharrem Demirkale be dismissed for the crime of "violation of the Constitution," and that he be sentenced to an aggravated life sentence for the crime of "premeditated murder."

In the opinion, which requested a prison sentence of 22 years and 6 months to 30 years for defendant Yavuz Karakaya for the crime of "aiding in premeditated murder," it was requested that the case be dismissed regarding the "violation of the Constitution" charge.

The opinion also proposed that defendants Mehmet Ali Özkılınç, Şükrü Yıldız, and Volkan Şahin be acquitted as there was insufficient definitive and convincing evidence for their conviction, and that the file of fugitive defendant Faruk Sarı be separated.

The lawyers for the Dink family and the defense lawyers requested time to make statements against the prosecutor's opinion.

Detained defendant Veysal Şahin argued that he had no connection with the individuals who planned the act, stating that he was shown as having participated in the reconnaissance even though he was not in Istanbul when Yasin Hayal was conducting it.

Defendant Okan Şimşek also claimed that there were major material errors in the file and requested his acquittal and release.

The court panel, announcing its interim decision, ruled for the continuation of the detention of defendants Gazi Günay, Hasan Durmuşoğlu, Muharrem Demirkale, Okan Şimşek, Osman Gülbel, Veysal Şahin, and Yavuz Karakaya, taking into account the nature of the crimes charged and the existing evidence.

The panel ruled that the arrest warrant for fugitive defendant Faruk Sarı should remain in effect and adjourned the hearing to July 16-17.

BACKGROUND OF THE CASE

On March 26, 2021, the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court had concluded the case regarding the murder of Agos Newspaper Editor-in-Chief Hrant Dink, in which 78 defendants—including FETÖ leader Fetullah Gülen, former prosecutor Zekeriya Öz, journalists, and former gendarmerie and police officers, with 6 in custody and 13 fugitives—were being tried.

The court sentenced 26 defendants, including former public officials and detained defendants Ramazan Akyürek and Ali Fuat Yılmazer, to prison terms ranging from 3 years and 4 months to aggravated life imprisonment, while issuing dismissal, acquittal, and rejection decisions for 39 defendants, including former Intelligence Department Head Sabri Uzun and the then-Istanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah.

The court panel also separated the files of 13 fugitive defendants, including FETÖ leader Fetullah Gülen, Ekrem Dumanlı, and Zekeriya Öz, for whom arrest warrants were issued.

The lawyers for the Dink family, who argued that the sentences were insufficient, and the convicted defendants appealed the decision, and the file was handled by the 2nd Criminal Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice.

On May 5, 2022, the Chamber examined the appeals filed by the defendants, their lawyers, and the interveners, and found the local court's decision to be in accordance with procedure and law.

The 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation announced its decision on June 21 regarding the file, for which it had conducted an appellate review for 62 defendants.

The Chamber upheld the aggravated life sentences given to former police chiefs Ali Fuat Yılmazer and Ramazan Akyürek for the crime of "premeditated murder." While it upheld some of the convictions for other defendants for the crimes of "premeditated murder," "aiding in premeditated murder," "membership in an armed terrorist organization," and "aiding an armed terrorist organization," it reversed the sentences of some defendants, finding them insufficient.

In this context, the Chamber sent the file back to the local court regarding the defendants for whom it had issued a reversal ruling: former officer Muharrem Demirkale, former Trabzon Provincial Gendarmerie Commander Ali Öz, Osman Gülbel, Yavuz Karakaya, Bekir Yokuş, Hasan Durmuşoğlu, Faruk Sarı, Mehmet Ayhan, Onur Karakaya, Okan Şimşek, Gazi Günay, Veysal Şahin, Volkan Şahin, Şükrü Yıldız, and Mehmet Ali Özkılınç.

On the other hand, a new case opened regarding the trial of defendants Hasan Durmuşoğlu, Mehmet Ayhan, Onur Karakaya, and Osman Gülbel, who were among the former police officers serving in the Trabzon Provincial Police Intelligence Branch at the time of Dink's murder, was merged with this file.

In this indictment, it was stated that the defendants caused Dink's death due to their negligent actions, that they were being tried for "premeditated murder" at the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court, and that the sentence they received had been finalized by the Court of Cassation's decision; it is requested that they be sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment for the crime of "attempting to abolish the constitutional order of the Republic of Turkey."