_*Ruling in Dink murder case stirs uproar
ISTANBUL-Friends of Dink’ hold a demonstration in fdont of the courthouse in protest. DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÜREL An Istanbul court issued the verdict in the case of Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist murdered in 2007, sentencing suspect Yasin Hayal to aggravated life imprisonment and suspect Erhan Tuncel to more than 10 years in prison. Tuncel, who has been under arrest since 2007, was released later yesterday based on the time he served. 

The court denied allegations of the existence of an organization behind the act in its final verdict. Hayal was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment on the charge of “instigating murder,” while Tuncel was acquitted from all charges pertaining to Dink’s assassination. 

Tuncel was sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison, however, for his involvement in the bombing of a McDonald’s restaurant in the Black Sea town of Trabzon in 2004. However he was released later yesterday based on the time he served. 

“The son of Hrant, Arat Dink, said they were joking with us before, yet they kept the biggest joke for the end. The court said the murder was not an organized crime. I wasn’t expecting this. This decision shows the state’s tradition of bothering its own citizens and making them enemies continues,” said Fethiye Çetin, one of the Dink family lawyers.

“Perhaps this is better because the state showed its own official face,” Hrant Dink’s brother, Yervant Dink, told the Hürriyet Daily News.

Following the decision, tension rose in the courtroom with some opposing the decision and the audience was removed. Friends, supporters and family of Hrant Dink then together walked to daily Agos building, where the murder took place almost five years ago, on Jan 19, 2007.

25th hearing

During the 25th hearing of the case yesterday suspect Erhan Tuncel pleaded to the court quoting from Fyodor Dostoyevski and Mevlana Celaleddini Rumi, a 13th century mystic in Anatolia. He said it was Yasin Hayal, the other arrested suspect of the case, who planned and committed the murder.

Tuncel’s lawyer Erdoğan Soruklu also claimed his client was a “tailored culprit,” while his connection to the Great Union Party (BBP) was also custom-made. “This incident is an Ergenekon affair,” he said.

However, one of the Dink family’s lawyers, İsmail Cem Halavut, argued in court that Prosecutor Hikmet Usta had failed to see the big picture by focusing solely on Dink’s murder.

Halavut denounced the connection drawn by Usta between Dink’s murder and the Ergenekon organization, arguing instead that the assassination could be linked to the murders of Christian missionaries. Dink was threatened, turned into a pariah and finally murdered because of his critical stance regarding Turkey’s policies toward minorities, Halavut said, adding that the Turkish-Armenian journalist would have been spared had he chosen not to write about such matters. 

Usta wrongly implicated an Ergenekon cell in the Black Sea province of Trabzon in the official opinion he presented to court, but the murder may have been committed by a more extensive organization, he said. 

Ergenekon is an alleged ultranationalist, shadowy gang accused of planning to topple the government by staging a coup initially by spreading chaos and mayhem. It is also thought to be an extension of or a different name for the “deep state,” which is an alleged unofficial organization of bureaucracy and military operating behind the scenes of the official state structure.

Halavut also said they had repeatedly appealed to the court regarding public servants whose negligence played a role in the murder and called for them to be tried. The trial of the public servants could also lead to the gathering of more evidence, he added. HDN
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* Turkey condemns U.S. candidate Perry`s criticism

Washington (ANTARA News/Reuters) - Turkey condemned as "unfounded and inappropriate" on Tuesday comments by U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry that the country is ruled by Islamic terrorists and questioning whether it should remain in the NATO alliance.

Perry, the governor of Texas, also said during a Republican debate in South Carolina on Monday that the United States should eliminate all aid to its long-time ally.

"Obviously when you have a country that is being ruled by what many would perceive to be Islamic terrorists, when you start seeing that sort of activity against their own citizens, then yes - not only is it time for us to have a conversation about whether or not they belong in NATO, but it`s time for the United States, when we look at their foreign aid, to go to zero with it," Perry said at the debate.

Perry`s campaign said on Tuesday the candidate was responding to the Fox News questioner asking about issues such as violence against civilian women. A spokesman said there was a need to "send a message" to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan`s government.

Asked on Tuesday whether he had misspoke during the debate, Perry said on CNN he did not have a problem with what he said Monday night and criticized Turkey as a country that allows honor killings.

"From my perspective, Turkey hasn`t earned our trust when they`re doing that to their own citizens," Perry said.

"I think Turkey has got to decide whether they want to be a country that projects those Western values that America is all about," Perry added.

Turkey noted that it had joined NATO when Perry was just 2 years old, and cited its long history of fighting terrorism, including co-chairing the Global Counterterrorism Forum with the United States.

"We strongly condemn the unfounded and inappropriate allegations expressed yesterday evening about our country during a debate held in South Carolina by Texas Governor Rick Perry ...," Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Selcuk Unal said in Ankara.

He noted that Perry trailed in the race for the Republican nomination to oppose President Barack Obama`s re-election and said, "This reflects the commonsense of the U.S. electorate."

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the Obama administration fundamentally disagreed with the assertion that Turkey was run by Islamic terrorists.
Editor: Ella Syafputri
ANTARA NEWS



* Rocks from Mars are found in Morocco
By Seth Borenstein

Associated Press
Scientists have confirmed that 15 pounds of rock collected recently in Morocco fell to Earth from Mars during a meteorite shower in July.

It was only the fifth time that scientists chemically confirmed Martian meteorites that people had witnessed falling. The fireball was spotted in the sky six months ago, but the rocks were not discovered on the ground in North Africa until the end of December.

The find is an important opportunity for scientists trying to learn about Mars' potential for life. So far, no NASA or Russian spacecraft has returned bits of Mars, so the only samples scientists can examine that are not contaminated are those that come here in a meteorite shower.

Scientists and collectors are ecstatic, since the rocks are among the rarest things on Earth - rarer even than gold. The biggest rock weighs more than 2 pounds.

A committee of meteorite experts confirmed test results Tuesday that showed the rocks came from Mars, based on their age and chemical signature. Astronomers think that millions of years ago, something big smashed into Mars and sent rocks hurtling through the solar system. After a long journey through space, one of those rocks plunged through Earth's atmosphere, breaking into smaller pieces.

Most Martian meteorite samples sat around on Earth for millions of years - or at least decades - before being discovered, which makes them tainted with Earth materials. These new rocks, while still likely to be somewhat contaminated because they have been on Earth for months, are purer.

The last time a Martian meteorite fell and was found fresh was in 1962. All the known Martian rocks on Earth add up to less than 240 pounds.

The new samples were scooped up by dealers from those who found them. Even before the official certification, scientists at NASA, museums, and universities scrambled to buy or trade these meteorites. Meteorite dealer Darryl Pitt said he was charging $11,000 to $22,500 an ounce and had sold most of his supply.

One of the key findings Tuesday was to officially connect these rocks to the fiery plunge witnessed by people and captured on video last summer.

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_* LA mandates porn stars wear condoms
by Alex Dobuzinskis

Los Angeles - Pornography stars in Los Angeles will be required to wear condoms during film shoots after the city council voted on Tuesday to mandate their use, despite a threat by producers to leave town over the requirement.

The move comes amid persistent questions about how to enforce the health measure, which backers say will protect performers in the multibillion-dollar porn industry from contracting HIV and other diseases.

Producers complain the sight of a condom in a sex scene turns off consumers of their videos.

The Los Angeles City Council voted 9-1 on Tuesday to give final approval to the measure, proposed after the AIDS Healthcare Foundation qualified an initiative for a June ballot.

The council gave preliminary approval to the measure last week, and its passage made the city the first in the nation to impose such a requirement. Most of the US porn industry is based in Los Angeles.

California state already requires porn performers to wear barriers, such as condoms, when they are in contact with bodily fluids. But the rule is openly violated within the industry, said Michael Weinstein, president of AIDS Healthcare.

City officials were still wrestling with how to enforce the condom mandate, which is set to go into effect in 90 days.

Paul Audley, president of FilmL.A., a nonprofit hired by the city to oversee television and film productions, told city leaders he believes health workers would be best able to make sure adult film performers use condoms.

FilmL.A. hands out under 500 permits a year for adult movie shoots, Audley said. But some estimates put the number of adult films shot in the Los Angeles region at 50 000 a year, he said.

Not all productions need a permit - such as those taking place in a soundstage - and some shoots are done illegally.

Porn producers have been critical of the condom mandate.

Steven Hirsch, the co-chairman and founder of adult film company Vivid Entertainment, said his company has a “condom-optional” policy and leaves it up to performers.

“Consumers have said overwhelmingly that they would prefer to watch movies without condoms,” Hirsch said last week.

While over 80 percent of the US porn industry is based in Los Angeles, where performers are regularly tested for sexually transmitted diseases, productions could move to other states or countries due to the condom mandate, he said. - Reuters

IOL news.


 


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