» 11/26/2007 11:53 TURKEY Trial of Malatya Christian’s assassins opened and adjourned One of lawyers for the victim’s families denounces a lynching campaign by local press, who he says are well informed of his every move. EU and American diplomatic representatives attend trial.
Ankara (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The trial of seven people accused of murdering three employees of protestant bookshop Zirve, in Malatya south east Turkey last April, has been adjourned to January 14th.
The trial was adjourned as the defence attorneys asked for time to prepare their defence.
Representatives from Germany, the EU and the USA, as well as the spiritual leader for the Church of Diyarbakır, who owned the bookshop, Ahmet Güvener, observed the hearing.
Orhan Kemal Cengiz, one of the attorneys representing the complainants, warned that a lynching campaign has been started in the local media, who he said, are informed about conversations and correspondence prior to the public hearing. The attorney demanded charges be changed from homicide to “genocide”, because the killing of more than one person is an act of terrorism.
