Attorney: Justice Minister is Pressing the Court

The hearing of 8 policemen of the Anti-Terror Department, in relation to the 1991 killing of University students Birtan Altinbas was held Thursday, with no outcome.During the hearing of the hearing at the Heavy Penal Court, Bagci, the attorney of one of the policemen, claimed that Justice Minister Cemil Cicek was putting pressures on the court. In a letter to Foreign Minister Gul, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell had reminded that the case will be closed by 2006 due to lapse of time, if not concluded. The only defendant at court was Hasan Orhan, along with the attorneys of defendants and nine attorneys of the victim, A number of representatives from embassies in Turkey were also present. Dedeoglu’s attorney petitioned to the court saying that he is withdrawing from the case to be replaced by Attorney Halil Armutlu. After being accepted, however, Armutlu said he just took over the case and therefore the hearing must be postponed.The court’ President Ziya Unal reacted at the demand saying that “The attorney before you also demanded time and took a lot of it. What if you withdraw too? How will this case finish?” Bagci, the attorney of Orhan said that there were pressures put on this case from inside and outside Turkey and “We have good will to conclude the case.” The other attorney of policemen Dedeoglu claimed that the court had lost its impartiality and should therefore be removed. Eventually, the trial was postponed to March 26. After the hearing, Attorney Mehmet Emin Bagci said that their clients were presented to public as “Torturer policemen” even though their guilt was not proven and that, there were efforts to press the independent Turkish judiciary, and “Let U.S. first give the account of the blood it smeared and lift death sentence.” The legal note of the prosecutor demands acquittal for Policemen Tansel Kayhan, Talip Tastan, Mehmet Kirkici and Muammer Eti. It demands 8 years of heavy prison sentence for policemen Ibrahim Dedeoglu, Sadi Cayli , Suleyman Sinkil and Hasan Orhan for “Unintended killing” which is a reduced version of torture crimes.�