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HRANT DINK'S MURDERER SENTENCED TO 23 YEARS IN JAIL
TODAYSZAMAN.COM,
July 25, 2011
Turkey
Ogun Samast, the hitman in the murder of Armenian-Turkish journalist
Hrant Dink, who was fatally shot outside the Agos weekly's office in
2007, was sentenced to nearly 23 years in jail on Monday.
Samast, tried in juvenile court because he was a minor at the time
of the crime, was sentenced by the court to 21 years, six months
for "premeditated murder" and one year, four months for carrying an
unlicensed gun.
In his final testimony to the court, Samast called for his acquittal
and blamed certain newspapers and columnists, saying what he had read
in those papers had incited him to commit the crime. "How else would
I have known about Hrant Dink or Agos if they had not written about
them," he told the court.
Dink, the editor-in-chief of Armenian-Turkish newspaper Agos, was
gunned down outside his office in İstanbul in broad daylight on Jan.
19, 2007. The hitman, Samast, was captured about one day after the
murder. Other suspects, including Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel, were
captured in the following days on charges of soliciting Samast for
Dink's murder.
The murder shocked Turkey and the ensuing trial became mired in
controversy with Dink's family and human rights activists arguing
that links between suspects in the case and the real masterminds of
the murder, suspected to be in the military and police force, were
not sufficiently investigated.
TODAYSZAMAN.COM,
July 25, 2011
Turkey
Ogun Samast, the hitman in the murder of Armenian-Turkish journalist
Hrant Dink, who was fatally shot outside the Agos weekly's office in
2007, was sentenced to nearly 23 years in jail on Monday.
Samast, tried in juvenile court because he was a minor at the time
of the crime, was sentenced by the court to 21 years, six months
for "premeditated murder" and one year, four months for carrying an
unlicensed gun.
In his final testimony to the court, Samast called for his acquittal
and blamed certain newspapers and columnists, saying what he had read
in those papers had incited him to commit the crime. "How else would
I have known about Hrant Dink or Agos if they had not written about
them," he told the court.
Dink, the editor-in-chief of Armenian-Turkish newspaper Agos, was
gunned down outside his office in İstanbul in broad daylight on Jan.
19, 2007. The hitman, Samast, was captured about one day after the
murder. Other suspects, including Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel, were
captured in the following days on charges of soliciting Samast for
Dink's murder.
The murder shocked Turkey and the ensuing trial became mired in
controversy with Dink's family and human rights activists arguing
that links between suspects in the case and the real masterminds of
the murder, suspected to be in the military and police force, were
not sufficiently investigated.