In Dink case, Zenit and Mumcu released

At the hearing held yesterday, arrested suspects Muhittin Zenit and Özkan Mumcu are released. Because of the arrested suspects' demand of recusation, the case is sent to the higher court. The next hearing will be held on April 24, 25 and 26. 

Along with Yılmaz Angın, Ali Fuat Yılmazer, Ömer Faruk Kartın, Hamdi Egbatan, Mehmet Akif Yılmaz and Serkan Saşan also demanded recusation. The court listened to the release claims of the arrested suspects, before evaluating the demand of recusation. 

At the hearing, some suspects, including former Istanbul Provincial Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah, former Chief of Security General Directorate Intelligence Branch Ramazan Akyürek, former İstanbul Intelligence Branch Director Ali Fuat Yılmazer, former Chief of Istanbul Police Directorate Intelligence Branch Ahmet İlhan Güler, former Trabzon Provincial Police Chief Reşat Altay, former Istanbul Intelligence Branch Chief Sabri Uzun, Ercan Demir, Muhittin Zenit, Özkan Mumcu, Erhan Tuncel, Osman Hayal and Yasin Hayal were present. 

4 suspects who are out of Istanbul attended the hearing through video call. The murder suspect Ogün Samast presented an excuse to the court and hadn't attended the hearing. 

Release claims of Özkan Mumcu, a commissioner in Trabzon Intelligence Branch at the time of murder, Trabzon Intelligence Branch official Ercan Demir and Muhittin Zenit, a former police officer in Trabzon Provincial Security Directorate were listened to. 

Zenit: “As the state, we connived at the murder”

Saying, “The only difference of Dink murder is the fact that the information about Dink murder was noted to the state records 11 months before the murder”, Muhittin Zenit claimed that he informed the relevant authorities. 

Zenit also talked about the records of his conversation with Erhan Tuncel on the phone right after the murder: “I tried to get information from him. As the state, we connived at the murder. The ones who leaked the conversation to the press, the ones who tried to conduct a perception management for concealing the mistakes have no understanding of state ethics. They leaked the conversation in order to protect the real perpetrators. They distracted the public. As the state, we connived at the murder. I have a clear conscience, because I did what I had to do.”

Özkan Mumcu claimed that they sent the intelligence report about Dink murder to Istanbul and said, “I am not the one who prosecuted him over Article 301.”