FOR HRANT, FOR JUSTICE... ONCE AGAIN WE STAND FOR JUSTICE

11 Feb 2008

It’s been 388 days.

Today is February 11, 2008, Monday. We, the friends of Hrant, are once again standing in front of the court to keep watch for justice in order to make sure that the ones who took him from us will not disappear into darkness.

For us, this case is the case to protect and claim the smiling courage, sincerity and the belief of our friend; the case to at least give his soul some peace. And at the same time, it will be the ultimate test for this country’s democracy and legal system.

If we can make sure that the network which murdered our friend is exposed and punished, we will have succeeded in one of the things Hrant wanted most. This country does not belong to racist murderers and those who abuse their positions to protect them; this is what we will have shown.

The real means of destroying humane demands in this country is to make one’s life a misery, to wear one down and to drain the soul. We are here to prevent this case from being pushed into this path and to substantiate our demands for justice.

We haven’t seen any hope-inspiring developments in justice since the murder of our friend. The culprits are still just the alleged murderer and a group of instigators. In over one year, there have been only two hearings at which just three suspects out of 19, of which eight are under arrest, have been heard.

It must be noted that Kemal Kerincsiz, Sevgi Erenerol and Veli Kucuk, who were arrested in the Ergenekon operation that was initiated two days after the anniversary of Hrant’s murder; and Oktay Yildirim, who had been arrested earlier in the same operation, were the interveners in Hrant Dink’s trials. The same people attacked Hrant Dink, his lawyers and the judges in court halls. Fuat Turgut, the lawyer of Yasin Hayal, was taken into custody and released afterwards.

Our demand, as the friends of Hrant, is to see, in both the Hrant Dink case and the cases that will be opened within the context of the Ergenekon operation, that justice mechanisms act in due diligence and that this network and beyond is revealed, wherever and whomever it may lead to. We expect to see that the Ergenekon operation shed light upon the Hrant Dink murder, as well as the Priest Santoro murder and the Malatya massacre. The juridical progress of these cases will be determinent in showing that justice can actually work in Turkey. The rulings have to satisfy the public conscience.

We, the tens of thousands of people who have been on the streets demanding justice since Hrant Dink’s murder, once again declare that we will be here tomorrow as we are here today for Hrant, for justice.. We will continue to keep watch for justice until Turkey becomes a country rid itself of racism and nationalism, until it becomes the country Hrant Dink wished for.

For Hrant, for justice...

FRIENDS OF HRANT