DINK MURDER TRIAL OPENS IN ISTANBUL

NTV MSNBC, Turkey
July 2 2007

The case is being heard behind closed doors as the accused gunman is
still a minor.

Guncelleme: 12:38 TSÝ 02 Temmuz 2007 Pazartesi

ISTANBUL – The first day of hearings in the trial of 18 people
accused of involvement in the murder of Hrant Dink, a prominent
Turkish-Armenian journalist, opens in Istanbul Monday.

Dink was gunned down outside the Istanbul headquarters of the
Turkish-Armenian bilingual newspaper Argos, of which he was founder
and editor, on January 19.

Turkish police arrested 18 persons, most belonging to a right wing
group, and charged them with involvement in the killing.

The accused gunman, who can only be identified by his initials in
the Turkish media because he is under the age of 18, has admitted to
shooting Dink outside his office.

Two of the other 17 defendants, Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel,
are accused of having masterminded the assassination, and could be
imprisoned for life without parole if found guilty.

If found guilty as charged, the other 15 persons in the dock could
be gaoled for terms of between seven and a half to 35 years.

–Boundary_(ID_fauJqE+SF4wNZy5TGExeMQ)–