Turkish Court Release Nine Police Officers Detained in Hrant Dink Murder Probe

ISTANBUL — The Istanbul 2nd Penal Court of Peace has released nine police officers who were detained by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office as part of an investigation into the 2007 killing of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, Today’s Zaman reported.

Former Istanbul Police Department intelligence unit Police Chief Ahmet Ilhan Guler was among those detained on Wednesday. However, Guler was released later on the same day after being questioned at the prosecutor’s office, while the other suspects were referred to the court on Wednesday evening. The court then released all of the suspects after hearing their testimonies late on Wednesday.

The detentions came after National Police Department Police Chief Engin Dinch, who was the head of the

Trabzon Police Department’s intelligence unit head at the time of Dink’s murder, said in his recent testimony to the Istanbul Public Prosecutor’s Office that his former unit had sent intelligence about a possible attempt on Dink’s life to the Istanbul Police Department in February 2006.

Among the other detained officers are former Istanbul Police Department intelligence unit deputy Police Chief Choshkun Chakar, former Trabzon Police Department intelligence unit Police Chief Faruk Sari, two police chiefs from the National Police Department’s intelligence unit — Bülent Demirel, Osman Gülbel and Yilmaz Angin – and police officers Onur Karakaya and Mehmet Ayhan.

An earlier investigation showed that the prosecutors who worked on the case ignored serious allegations into the involvement of top police officers in the murder.