Dink’s conviction ‘faulty,’ says prosecutor

February 25, 2006
Turkish Daily News

The Supreme Court of Appeals Chief Prosecutor's Office has asked the Supreme Court of Appeals' 9th Bureau to overturn a lower court decision to convict Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink for insulting the country's national identity in a series of articles and order a new trial.

The journalist was convicted in July under a clause in the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) that EU officials say is incompatible with EU norms on freedom of expression. Turkey began EU membership talks in October.
[...]
The prosecutor's office said the conviction was based on "faulty assessments." The office said the decision to find Dink guilty was based on faulty premises and that the court had committed a mistake by agreeing to list certain people as defendants despite the fact that the individuals in question had not suffered any damage due to Dink's comments.
[...]
The Supreme Court of Appeals Ninth Bureau will now assess the appeal filed by Dink and the objection to the decision noted by the prosecutor's office. If the bureau decides against the prosecutor's findings, the Supreme Court of Appeals General Board will assess the matter.
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The EU has asked Turkey to change the clause or risk endangering its EU bid.

Two weeks ago another court acquitted Dink of separate charges for saying at a human rights conference in 2002 that the Turkish national anthem and national oath was discriminatory.

Earlier this month the government dropped a case against Orhan Pamuk, the country's best-known novelist, for "insulting Turkishness," after Turkey came under harsh criticism from the EU.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.