Hrant DINK

Impunity continues for the murder of Hrant Dink, author and editor of the Armenian language magazine Agos, killed outside his office in Istanbul on 19 January 2007. In July 2011, 17-year-old Ogün Samast was sentenced to 22 years and 10 months in prison for Dink’s murder.  

In May 2013, the Supreme Court of Appeal accepted Hrant Dink’s lawyers’ call for the case to be considered as an organised crime, which opened the way for several new investigations and trials, involving law enforcement and security officials, members of the prosecutorial services, and members of criminal organisations. In July 2019, the Istanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court concluded that the murder ‘was an organised crime’ and sentenced seven defendants to prison, ranging from 99 years and six months to two years and nine months. In a separate trial involving public officials, 26 out of 77 defendants were given prison terms in March 2021 in relation to the murder; four were sentenced to life in prison, including two without the possibility of parole. Dink’s family appealed against the verdict, arguing that the court did not expose the full conspiracy behind his killing. They requested a retrial from the Constitutional Court of Türkiye in July 2023. The Court had not taken a decision as of December 2024. 

On 15 November 2023, Ogün Samast was freed on parole after serving 16 years and 10 months in prison, triggering widespread criticism across the country and prompting the Ministry of Justice to issue a statement saying that it had followed the law. PEN International continues to call for full justice.  

Update: On 10 January 2025, seven people accused in one of the trials for Hrant Dink’s murder benefited from the statute of limitations in Türkiye and were spared trial. Eight intelligence and police officers were retried for ‘premeditated homicide’ and ‘violation of the constitutional order’ and subsequently sentenced to life in prison on 7 February 2025.