The Hrant Dink Foundation’s 2012 Agenda has been published. The theme of this year is “Trials” and just like in previous years the agenda comes out in three languages Turkish, English and Armenian.

The 2012 Agenda “Trials” is a modest tribute to mankind’s ongoing quest for justice starting from early ages of humanity and to the advocates of rights, law and justice who - sooner or later - were able to reach the light at the end of the tunnel in their quest for justice.

The agenda covers various types of trials including some show trials which were made up of trump-up charges and pre-set judgments, trials which witnessed the victory of the truth, trials which called for the account of persecution inflicted by people upon other people or of the crimes committed by the state.

Vahan Bayatyan who is an Armenian conscientious objector, Jane Rose who claimed her right to abortion, John Scopes who was punished in the Monkey Trial for teaching the Theory of Evolution are among the people whose struggles are mentioned in the Trials.

The Agenda covers many trials including the Rosa Parks trial which turned into a protest against the segregation of black and white people in the US, the Rivonia Trial which resulted in decades of imprisonment for Nelson Mandela who defended himself by saying “I have cherished the ideal of a society where everyone has equal opportunities” and for his friends; the Agenda also features some examples of trials and justice struggles from Turkey’s recent history such as the trial of Seyid Rıza by the military court, the case of Yeşilyurt villagers where the ECHR convicted Turkey, the Supreme Court ruling which described the minority foundations as “foreigners” in their native country, the Festus Okey trial and the Susurluk trial.

The Nuremberg Tribunal which tried the Nazis in charge of the Holocaust, the International War Crimes Tribunal which makes judgments against genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity and the International Criminal Court which had its first court case to try those in charge of the children soldiers in Congo are also among the Trials covered by the Agenda...

There are fifty three Trials of historical importance presented in the Agenda covering each week of the calendar year and accompanied by about sixty photographs many of which are deeply wired in the visual memory of humanity.

Apart from the official dates for Turkey, the Agenda also features important dates and feasts of Muslims, Alevis, Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians and Kurds. The previous thematic agendas published by the Hrant Dink Foundation were published under the titles Crowds and Armenia.