Ogün Samast, the convicted murderer of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, has filed an application in court in his hometown of Trabzon to legally change his name, the Demirören News Agency (DHA) reported on Tuesday.
The Akçaabat Civil Court of First Instance, which will consider Samast’s request, has yet to make a decision, DHA said.
The 52-year-old Dink, editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian bilingual Agos weekly, was shot dead with two bullets to the head outside the newspaper’s headquarters in central İstanbul on Jan. 19, 2007 by Samast, then a 17-year-old jobless high school dropout.
Samast was arrested the following day.
After serving 16 years, 10 months, Samast was released from prison in western Bolu province on Nov. 15, which led to outrage among opposition politicians, journalists, human rights activists and social media users.
Days after Samast’s release, the İstanbul 2nd Juvenile Court accepted an indictment seeking a prison sentence ranging from seven years, six months to 12 years for Samast on the grounds that he “committed crimes on behalf of an armed terrorist organization without being a member of it,” in connection to his alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement.
The Turkish government accuses the Gülen movement, inspired by the views of Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen, of masterminding a failed coup on July 15, 2016, and labels it as a terrorist organization. Gülen and his movement strongly deny any involvement in the failed putsch and any terrorist activity.
The İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court imposed a travel ban on him during the hearing on Dec. 6, when Samast appeared in front of cameras for the first time after his release. Having gained weight and wearing a black hat, Samast came to the courthouse with his wife and left questions directed at him unanswered.
In June Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals upheld certain acquittals while overturning other verdicts in the trial of 76 defendants, primarily public officials, in connection with Dink’s assassination.
The verdict handed down on March 26, 2021 by the İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court included 33 acquittals and 27 convictions.
Samast had confessed to the murder and was sentenced to almost 23 years in prison in 2011.
https://www.turkishminute.com/2023/12/12/hrant-dinks-convicted-murderer-applies-to-court-to-change-his-name/#:~:text=Hrant%20Dink's%20convicted%20murderer%20applies%20to%20court%20to%20change%20his%20name&text=Og%C3%BCn%20Samast%2C%20the%20convicted%20murderer,(DHA)%20reported%20on%20Tuesday.