Dink Murder Investigation Deepens

The case where 18 people are on trial with relation to the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink lasted more than 12 hours, at Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court in Besiktas.

The court ordered for further investigation into allegations of misconduct by security officers in Samsun and Trabzon, following the arrest of main murder suspect O.S.

It also ruled for the release of four defendants under arrest due to lack of concrete evidence against them.

The case is deferred to October 1.

Demand for justice

More than a thousand activists, journalists, writers and academics as well as people from the Armenian community gathered in Besiktas yesterday to voice their demand for "justice".

Around 600 lawyers pleaded to serve as joint attorneys to the Dink family, in a gesture of solidarity. The case is closed to press as the alleged gunman is younger than 18 and regarded as a child.

The court has taken the first statements from the defendants. The alleged gunman, O.S. (17) is told to refuse giving a statement. His lawyer demanded the presence of a social worker at court during the trial and the judge agreed.

Erhan Tuncel, so-called police informant withheld his testimony and demanded his release as he served as defined.

Yasin Hayal, who is thought to solicit the murder, said Tuncel had planned the murder. Tuncel opposed to his statement.

A brief tension arose in the morning between defense lawyers and joint attorneys, when one defense lawyer affronted the formers as "Armenian bastards".

International press agencies and European journalists, as well as rights organizations such as the Amnesty International attended the sitting but they were denied access to the courtroom.

Dink family lawyers will hold a briefing about the case today (Tuesday).(EÜ)