Turkish prosecutors prepare new indictment against Dink’s assassin Ogün Samast

The Chief Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul on Nov. 19 prepared a new indictment against Hrant Dink’s newly released assassin Ogün Samast asking for imprisonment of him from seven to 12 years for “committing a crime on behalf of an armed terrorist organization without being its member.” However, Dink family's lawyer Deveci said the statute of limitation for the new indictment expired on Jan. 19, 2022.

Monday November 20 2023 11:54 pm

This photograph shows Samast (in the middle) after his capture in 2007 while Turkish police praising him in the room and making him pose with a Turkish flag.

Duvar English

The Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office on Nov. 17 prepared a new indictment against Ogün Samast, the assassin of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, days after his release on parole.

The new indictment asks Samast’s seven to 12 years imprisonment for “committing a crime on behalf of an armed terrorist organization without being its member” due to his "affiliation with the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ)."

Members of the family, Arat, Delal, Hasrof, Rahil Dink and Sera Dink Nazarian are included as plaintiffs in the new indictment. The 14th Heavy Criminal Court of Istanbul also filed a criminal complaint against Samast, according to reporting by the Anadolu Agency (AA).

The indictment described Ogün Samast as the “boy who was dragged into crime,” and accused him of “committing crimes on behalf of an armed terrorist organization without being its member.”

On the other hand, Dink family's lawyer Hülya Deveci said the statute of limitation for the new indictment expired on Jan. 19, 2022, after 22.5 years.

Samast was released on Nov. 15 from the Bolu F Type Prison on parole for “good behavior” after serving 16 years and 10 months.

The mew indictment stated “no concrete evidence suggesting Samast was a member of the FETÖ/PDY armed terrorist group,” and added that certain evidence revealed Samast had some rapport with the executives and members of the Gülen network, which the Turkish authorities refer to as the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ).

“Samast has worked in line with the benefit and objectives of the FETÖ during and after Hrant Dink’s assassination,” the indictment read.

The prosecutor’s office relayed the indictment to the 2nd Juvenile Heavy Criminal Court in Istanbul as Samast was 17 during the assassination.

From the 78 people involved in Hrant Dink’s assassination trial, 26 defendants were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment, including four life sentences and two aggravated life sentences.