Dink’s murderer files for name change

ANKARA

Ogün Samast, the convicted perpetrator of the 2007 assassination of Armenian-origin journalist Hrant Dink, has applied to the court to have his name changed, local media has reported.

The reports indicated that Samast submitted the request for a new name at a court in the northern province of Trabzon, though specific details about the requested name or the official reasons presented to the court for the change were not disclosed.

The court, which will evaluate Samast's reasons, is expected to make a decision on the name change request in the coming days.

In a similar move, Mehmet Ali Ağca, the killer of journalist Abdi İpekçi and the perpetrator of an assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II, changed his surname to "Aslan,” meaning "lion" in English.

Samast, who served 16 years for the high-profile killing, was recently released and is now confronted with accusations of "committing a crime on behalf of an armed terrorist organization without being a member."

During last week's hearing at an Istanbul court via the audio and video information system, Samast requested additional time to prepare his defense. The presiding judge accepted the request, citing the late notification of the indictment.

The chief prosecutor's office in Istanbul is advocating for a prison term ranging from five to 10 years for his alleged involvement with FETÖ, the group behind the 2016 coup attempt.

Dink, a prominent journalist and the editor-in-chief of the weekly Agos, was gunned down in broad daylight in front of his office by Samast, who was then a 17-year-old jobless high-school dropout.