Turkish authorities extend Hrant Dink assassin's jail term after he threatens guardians
Turkish authorities have extended the jail sentence of Ogün Samast, the assassin of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, by 29 months after he threatened guardians. Samast was waiting to be released from prison on Aug. 6, to serve his last 1.5 years under probation.
Duvar English
Ogün Samast, the assassin of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, was expected to be released from prison on Aug. 6, to serve his last 1.5 years under probation. But, since he received another jail sentence of 29 months on charges of threatening guardians in a case finalized on Aug. 3, Ogün was not released from prison, KRT online news outlet reported on Aug. 27.
Editor of bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos and Turkey’s best known Armenian voice abroad, Dink was shot in broad daylight as he left his Istanbul office in January 2007.
His killer Samast was 17 and unemployed when the killing took place. He was sentenced by a juvenile court to 22 years and 10 months. According to the law on execution of sentences, Samast needs to serve 15 years and 2 months of this sentence, the last 1.5 years of which would be spent under probation.
As Samast was expecting to be released on Aug. 6, he found out that he has received another jail sentence, this time on charges of threatening guardians while serving his sentence in Istanbul's Silivri Prison. Samast's lawyer has appealed this new jail sentence.