Tehran Times, Iran
July 5 2007

Court agrees to widen Dink murder investigation

ISTANBUL (AFP) — Lawyers of the family of slain Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink voiced hope Tuesday that the court handling the
case would dig deeper into the murder and uncover the alleged role of
security officials. The legal team has been pushing for months – so
far without success – for the indictment of security officials on the
grounds that the police knew as early as 2006 of plans to kill Dink,
but failed to act in what it says was "almost an intentional
negligence."

The 52-year-old Dink was gunned down on January 19 in a busy Istanbul
street. "We asked the court to expand the investigation … and
collect evidence in various fields," attorney Fethiye Cetin said of
the first hearing in the trial of 18 suspects, which began behind
closed doors Monday.

"The court accepted our demands," she said. "We think this is a
positive attitude." The three key defendants, all from Trabzon, are
the confessed hitmen, 17-year-old Ogun Samast, and the alleged
ultra-nationalist masterminds of the assassination, Yassin Hayal and
Erhan Tuncel, both 26.

The indictment says Tuncel was a police informer who twice told
officials last year that Hayal was plotting to kill Dink, but
deliberately concealed the fact that someone else would pull the
trigger because Tuncel himself was part of the plot.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress