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The "Trial of Soghomon Tehlirian" was a sensationalized trial of the assassination of the former Grand Vizier Talat Pasha by the Soghomon Tehlirian. The event happened in the Charlottenburg District of Berlin, Germany in broad daylight and in the presence of many witnesses on March 15, 1921.

Defense

Tehlirian defended by three defence attorneys, including Dr. Kurt Niemeyer, professor of Law at Cologne University.

The defense attorneys made no attempt to deny the fact that Tehlirian had killed a man. They focused on the influence of the Armenian Genocide on Tehlirian's mental state. It took the jury slightly over an hour to render a verdict of "not guilty" on grounds of temporary insanity. Tehlirian was tried and acquitted of all charges by the German court.

The trial examined not only Tehlirian’s actions but also Tehlirian's conviction that Talat Pasha was the main author of the Armenian Genocide, based on the Talat Pasha telegrams.

Significance

The trial was an important influence on Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin, who found it interesting it was a crime to kill a man but not an entire people.

Art

The Turkish film Blood on the Wall was a depiction of the Tehlirian's trial. It greatly differed and presents a fictional account. Near the end of the movie, Tehlirian is shown confessing, prior to moment the jury is sent to deliberate the case, before the court that he had killed an innocent man, that is, Talat. After he breaks down in tears, the film shows his mother, who is shown to have survived the Genocide, walking across the courtroom and comforting him; the jury, however, does find him not guilty.

Notes

References

• Soghomon Tʻēhlirean, 2006, "The Case of Soghomon Tehlirian", by Center for Armenian Remembrance ISBN 0977715310

• Armenian Genocide