TURKEY: MALATYA LAWYERS REQUEST RECUSAL OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 000375 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2018 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL OSCE TU SUBJECT: TURKEY: MALATYA LAWYERS REQUEST RECUSAL OF "BIASED" JUDGES REF: A. ANKARA 60 ¶B. 07 ANKARA 2837 Classified By: Political Counselor Janice G. Weiner, reasons 1.4 (b),(d ) ¶1. (C) Summary: Attorneys for the families of victims of the April 2007 Malatya triple murder of Christian bookstore workers (ref B) argued at the February 25 proceeding that the three-judge panel should be removed for bias. The court postponed the trial to March 17, to allow a Diyarbakir penal court time to assess the judges' objectivity. Meanwhile, we confirmed February 27 that Ankara Police assigned a bodyguard to lead victims' attorney Orhan Cengiz, whose February 8 petition for protection had gone unanswered for several weeks. End summary. -------------- --- Malatya Victims' Attorneys Move to Recuse Judges -------------- --- ¶2. (SBU) The Malatya victims' families' legal team moved to recuse the three-judge panel at the February 25 hearing. Lead attorney Orhan Cengiz told us the panel has repeatedly denied his requests to exclude documents about the victims' activities and return to the victims' families documents and computers that had belonged to the victims. The court also denied a request to record the trial with visual and audio devices, given Turkey's lack of western-style court reporters -- an approach being used in the ongoing Hrant Dink murder case. The judges' decisions showed their inability to be impartial, according to Cengiz. The panel stated it would request a Diyarbakir penal court assess its impartiality; the judges would recuse themselves if determined to be partial. The case will reconvene March 17. ¶3. (SBU) Cengiz is optimistic. He believes his legal team effectively demonstrated the bias of the inexperienced panel. Even if the recusal motion fails, Cengiz hopes it will push the judges to act in a fairer and more transparent manner in the future. ¶4. (C) Cengiz believes international support is also key. The judiciary's decision to schedule the Dink and Malatya trials on the same day was a tactic to diffuse international attention, Cengiz said. The move also hinders the Malatya legal team, which is supported by several Dink family attorneys. International pressure can help thwart such judicial tactics, he said. Suzanne Geske, the widow of a Malatya victim, believes the attention of western diplomats has helped increase transparency. She told us the attendance of representatives from the European Commission, and U.S., German, Dutch, and Norwegian Embassies at trial sessions reminds the judges the world is watching. -------------- -------------- Ankara Police Belatedly Assign Bodyguard to Malatya Attorney -------------- -------------- ¶5. (C) Cengiz told us a campaign of subtle, indirect threats and intimidation against him has intensified since the trial began in November 2007. In November, he was shocked to read in a local Malatya newspaper private details regarding his travel plans and case strategy that he had communicated via phone and e-mail only to one trusted co-counsel. The details could have been learned only by intercepting his communications, he said. Cengiz later learned of an anonymous letter sent to the court, accusing him of plotting with American Protestants to orchestrate the murders of rival German Protestants. In January, Cengiz received a letter at his office that made both veiled and direct threats to his safety. "All of these incidents clearly display that the killings in Malatya were not the job of five kids," Cengiz concluded. ¶6. (SBU) On February 8, Cengiz petitioned the Ankara Public Prosecutor's Office and Ankara Governor's Office to provide him with security in Ankara (Malatya police had provided adequate security during trial sessions). Despite an Amnesty International February 13 urgent action call for his protection, a European Commission demarche to the GOT, and prominent press coverage, Cengiz received no reply. On February 22, we inquired with Ministry of Interior Secretary ANKARA 00000375 002 OF 002 General Yilmaz Arslan. The following day, Arslan contacted the Ankara Chief of Police, who promised to investigate. During a February 27 meeting with us, Arslan called the Police Chief, who confirmed a bodyguard had been assigned to Cengiz as of that morning. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey WILSON