PERMISSION AWAITED TO TRY 2 TURKISH SOLDIERS IN DINK ASSASSINATION CASE
Hurriyet
July 18 2008
Turkey
Inspectors from the Turkish Interior Ministry asked for a state
governor’s permission to bring a colonel and a captain before
the court for failing to act on information received prior to the
assassination of a Turkish-Armenian journalist, Milliyet daily reported
on Friday. (UPDATED)
Hrant Dink, editor in chief of Argos newspaper, was shot dead outside
the offices of the paper in Istanbul in January, 2007. Police arrested
the gunman and a suspected associate who was identified as Yasin Hayal.
Two lower-ranked soldiers told the inspectors that they had informed
Col. Ali Oz and Capt. Metin Yildiz about intelligence regarding
the assasination of Dink, while Oz said he may have forgotten about
this information.
The investigation requires the permission of Trabzon Governor Nuri
Okutan and the approval of Interior Minister Besir Atalay.
The trial began in July 2007. Prosecutors have asked for a prison
term of 18 to 24 years for Dink’s assassin and life sentences for
two key suspects, Erhan Tuncel and Yasin Hayal, for inciting to murder.