FOUR RELEASED IN DINK MURDER TRIAL
NTV MSNBC, Turkey
July 3 2007
Six of those charged over the slaying of Dink are still at large.
ISTANBUL – Four of the defendants in the trial of those accused of
links to the murder of prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink were freed by the court in the first day of hearings Monday.
The court ruled that Salih Hacisalihoglu, Osman Altay, Irfan Ozkan
and Veysel Toprak should be released from custody as there was not
sufficient evidence to warrant the continuation of their prosecution.
Dink, the editor of the Turkish-Armenian language newspaper Argos,
was gunned down in Istanbul on January 19. In total, 18 persons were
charged with involvement in the killing, though six of those have
not been taken into custody.
The first day of the court case, which was heard behind closed doors as
the alleged gunman, who can only be identified as O.S. in the Turkish
media, is below the age of 18, saw many hundreds rally outside the
court calling for justice and a full investigation into the murder
of Dink.