Hrant Dink's Killer Sentenced to 22 Years

A Turkish man was sentenced to 22 years and 10 months in jail for the murder of ethnic-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

Ogun Samast was found guilty of homicide and possessing arms without a license, according to the state-run Anatolia news agency, which cited an Istanbul juvenile court decision.

Dink was shot three times in the head and neck outside the offices of his Agos newspaper on Jan. 19, 2007. Scores of people have been arrested in connection with his assassination, including six gendarmerie officers. Prosecutors also questioned police officers and a former governor of Istanbul.

Samast was tried by a juvenile court because he was under 18 when he committed the murder. Dink’s family is charging that security forces in the northern province of Trabzon, where Samast came from, and in Istanbul failed to act on intelligence that Dink would be assassinated.

Source: Bloomberg