ECHR on Hrant Dink: Turkey knew Murder Plan but didn't protect, + covers with Impunity many involved

ECHR denounced that Turkey had persecuted the Murdered Journalist, indirectly but surely, because he dared Criticize the Turkish State's Negationism on the 1915 Armenian Genocide, condemning Ankara's Authorities not only for blatant failures to protect his Life, even if they knew that he was seriously threatened, and by whom, before the Killing, but also for violating his Freedom of Speech.

Moreover, Turkish State's Agents knew the Plan to Murder the dissident Journalist, but did nothing to prevent the killing, (on the contrary, they even cooperated with would-be Killers into jointly Persecuting and slandeing the Victim to the Courtts !), and Turkish State Agents are also among several individuals involved in the affair of the cold-blood killing, both before and afterwards, in one way or another, but the Turkish State still persists until Today (2006-2010) to scandalously cover up all their Crimes and/or wrong-doings with a continuing total Impunity, as ECHR's judgement, rendered after 2 successive applications lodged to Strasbourg by the victims' Family, in fact revealed today :  

That's why  ECHR condemned Turkey for multiple Violations of the Right to Life and to Freedom of Expression, ordering it to pay more than 133.000 € to the Victim's Family for various damages and expenses.

Turkish Government's failure to clearly promise that it willl, at least now, really investigate the cold-blood Murder of dissident Armenian Journalist Hrant Dink, to find and punish all those involved, and stop harassing or intimidating critical Journalists, after a stunning Condamnation of Ankara by ECHR, which denounced that Turkey had grossly failed to protect the Journalist, even if it knew that he was threatened, and didn't properly investigate his Murder, even resticting and hindering enquiries asked by the Victims' Families and Friends", that,  "Turkey now has an unambiguous duty to reopen the investigation and cast the net Wider than those currently on trial", because "both legal obligations and Justice require addressing (Turkish) State ...possible Collusion in the Killing", and, in addition,  "If Ankara is serious about implementing the ruling, it needs to End Restrictions on Free Speech by repealing restrictive laws and protect the Right to Speak out."

But Turkish Foreign Ministry reacted only by merely claiming that 'efforts"(sic !) to implement the ruling and ...measures to prevent Future violations, would be decided, without saying nothing about efficient investigations to find and punish all those involved in the cold-blood Murder, nor on stopping harassing and prosecuting critical Journalists, as ECHR found that Ankara did also on Hrant Dink's and many other cases.

-  "Successive Turkish Governments have responded to judgments by the European Court holding Turkey in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights by paying (a) ..compensation to victims, but without taking further steps to implement rulings. In cases where the European Court has held Turkey responsible for violating the right to life, Turkish authorities have repeatedly failed to reopen investigations or to take concrete steps to identify those responsible for killings", Human Rights Watch's officer, Emma Sinclair-Webb, denounced.

Moreover, ECHR found that Turkey is frequently condemned by ECHR for scandalous Journalists' Murders, totalling, alone, almost a similar level of the Number of such Condamnations for Press Killings, as.... all other CoE's 46 Member States : More than 60 compared to about 80 cases, even parts of Turkish Press reportedly denounced.
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The murdered Journalist had been earlier condemned by Turkish Courts for "insulting Turkiness", as they claimed.

But the applications to ECHR, lodged by the Victim's Wife and 2 Children, as well as his Brother, didn't protect not even them : After Hrant Dink's Murder, his Son was notoriously threatened to be prosecuted by similar Turkish Authorities' methods as his killed Father..

In one of his Articles, the Victim had "mentioned the Armenian origins of the adoptive Daughter of Ataturk", the founder of Turkey, born in Greece, "provoking Teactions, such as Demonstrations, Threatening Letters, etc, of which the Authorities were informed, by Extremist Nationalistc groups, who saw .. an attempt to turnish Attaturk's reputation".

But, instead of taking measures, on the contrary,  "Istanbul's deputy Prefect had warned him that the Security Forces couldn't guarantee his Safety, if his Newspaper continued to publish Articles provoking such reactions" ! I.e. instead of protecting the threatened Journalist, he had, on the contrary, even aggravated the threats against him, obviously pushing to muzzle...

Worse : Those who demonstrated and threatened Hrant Dink, from an Ultra Nationalist Turkish Group, instead of being arrested, on the contrary, were even ... allowed to intervene in Turkish Courts' prosecution against their own victim !
The Turkish Court's prosecution against the Journalist didn't stop but only after he was Murdered, on January 2007...

Scandalously, Turkish Authorities had been even officially informed that some supects were preparing to kill the Journalist, and that this was "probable", but they abstained from taking any measure whatever to try to protect the victim.

But all procedures against those Turkish Policement who knew that the Armenian Journalist was threatened by Death, and did nothing, between 2006 and 2007, were suspended or rejected in 2007-2008, ECHR denounced..

Scandalous Turkish Police's complicity with the Murderers went so far that, even after the bloody Killing, "some Turkish Security Agents ..... took their Photos in the company of the Killer, holding a Turkish Flag, in front of an inscription saying that "Motherland (Turkey) is sacred, and its fate cannot be left to chance", ECHR's judhemennt denounces.

The Murdered Journalist's Family accused Turkey in front of the ECHR, to have "exposed" him  ton Death risks, despite knowing the threats, and stressed that this was "part of a Series of Aggressions, organized by Turcs Extremists against members of Religious Minorities".

ECHR observed that the Turkish Authorities "were informed of an Intense Hostility, by UltraNationalist Turkish Groups, during the period of Time before he was murdered", mainly "because they found in his articles an attempt to turnish Attaturk's image", and they had even joined the Turkish Courts' prosecution accusing the Journalist to "insult Turkiness"...

But, Turkish Police, long before the tragic events, "knew that a Murder was probable, and even the Identity of its suspected instigators", ECHR found out.

- Astonishingly, "the instigators of Hrant Dink's murder ... had even spoken about their Plans in Public (!) to many People around them, had shown the Photograph" of the Journalist, clearly "designating him as the man to kill, had Tested in open air the Gun of the Crime, and had Planified the attack in a CyberCafé", ECHR denounces !..

- "Therefore, (Turkish) Authorities knew, or should know, that ..Dink was particularly exposed to become victim of a Deadly Attack", and that "this Risk was Real and Imminent", ECHR observed.

- But "Noone, among the 3 (Turkish) Authorities", who "knew" (See supra) and "were concerned by the Protection of the victim's Life", "did Not react in order to Prevent the Murder, ... despite the fact that they had been Informed of his Planification and Imminent execution", ECHR denounced.

+ Moreover, even after the Murder, (i.e. during the 2008-2010 period), ECHR found that ... "ALL procedures", raising the Responsibility of the Turkish Authorities which had so blatantly failed to do their duty to protect the threatened Journalist (See supra), had been either "Stopped", "Rejected", or Time-barred !

In addition, those empowered to decide on possible Sanctions for such blatant Failures to protect Human Life, were "not independent" from the Turkish Police, and "the Victim's Family weren't associated in the procedures against those Turkish Officers", while even "Suspicisions that a Turkish Police's Chief would have revealed his own UltraNationalistic views and supported the suspected Killers", "were not seriously investigated", ECHR also found.      

Therefore, ECHR concludes that, by droping all the Penal Law procedures against those Responsible, among Turkish Authorities, for blatantly failing to protect Hrant Dink's Life, is another Violation of the Human Right to Life, which implies, on the contrary, that an Efficient Investigation must be done to Identify and.. Punish those responsible for such grave failures

+ As a matter of General Principle, "ECHR reminds that Freedom of Expression is an Essential CornerStone for a Democratic Society", and that "this goes not only for Inoffensive or Indifferent "Informations", received favorably, but also for those who Oppose, Shock or create Concern in a State or in a part of the Population", while "the Press plays an Eminent Role in a Democatic Society : While it mustn't go beyond certain limits, mainly for the protection of (individual Person's) Reputation, it has, nevertheless, to communicate .... Informations and Ideas on all Issues of General Interest", "even with a dose of exageration or provocation".

>>> ECHR found that Hrant Dink's publications on the 1915 Genocide and Armenian Identity, were not a "Hate-speach" against the Turks, and therefore, by declaring the Journalist "Guilty for his words, the (Turkish) Courts punished him, indirectly, for having criticized the fact that the (Turkish) State ...denies the 1915 Genocide".
But, on such Political or General Interest issues, Admissible Criticism is much Larger, than in the cases of Individual persons, ECHR clearly confirmed also regarding the Armenian Genocide.

- Hrant "Dink was speaking as a Journalist", "dealing with Issues related to the Armenian Minority", and, "when he expressed his Contempt against some behaviors that he considered as a Negation of the 1915 Incidents, he simply communicated his Ideas and Views on an Issue of undeniable General Interest in a Democratic Society", in which, "it is of paramount Importance for the Debate engaged on particularly Grave Historic Facts,  to unfold in Freedom", also because "the Search of the Historic Truth, is an integral part of the Freedom of Expression", ECHR clearly stressed.

Moreover, ECHR concluded that the Persecution and Condemnation of the Journalist by the Turkish Authorities, taken in conjuction with the total Absence of any Measure to Protect him against dangerous Aggressions of Turkish Extremists, was a supplementary Violations of his Right to Freedom of Speech.

After such blatant ECHR's 2010 findings, it will obviously become even more Difficult for the EU to contine to pay such Turkish Authorities by wasting, each Year, many Hundreds of Millions € from EU Taxpayers' Money, (including from Poor People, obliged to pay VAT+), particularly during this Hard period of Global Financial and Economic Crisis, when, on the contrary, urgent Investments to Innovative High Tech. are EU's Top Priority among the growing Global Competition, while, in Turkey, even softly Critical Journalists as Hrant Dink are so abusively Persecuted and Murdered, with a Scandalous Impunity of all those Responsible for the cold-blood Killing, all along 2006-2010 !...

Interesting and timely (and, above all : obviously Justified, if not Necessary) .."Food for Thought" for EU Parliament's forthcoming Debates and Votes f.ex. on the 2011 EU Budget...

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(NDLR : Fast Translation from the Original ECHR Judgement, which is exclusively in French)