Green light for retrial of Dink murder

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

Hrant Dink. Hürriyet photo

A prosecutor has appealed the ruling in the Hrant Dink murder trial, arguing that the crime was an organized hit.

“The suspects acted as a cell in Trabzon with the same aims as the Ergenekon crime gang,” the prosecutor said in his 30-page appeal against the January court ruling, adding that the suspects should be punished for committing an organized act of crime.
 
Dink was the chief editor for weekly Agos, a newspaper published in Turkish and Armenian. He was shot dead in front of his office on Jan. 19, 2007, in Istanbul. Triggerman Ogün Samast was sentenced to 22 years in prison for the murder last year. Instigator Yasin Hayal was sentenced on Jan. 17 to aggravated life imprisonment, while former police informant and suspect Erhan Tuncel was released, prompting widespread anger.

In its ruling, the court argued that there was not enough evidence indicating the existence of an organization behind the crime despite lingering doubts.

“If the court accepts the existence of an organization behind the crime but lacks the evidence, it should have asked the prosecutor’s office for further investigation into the issue,” the prosecutor said in his appeal.