Ogün Samast, a far-right nationalist who assassinated famed Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in İstanbul in January 2007, is set to be retried in March 2024. Samast was released last month following 16 years of imprisonment.
Samast received a conditional release in November reportedly due to good behavior in prison. Samast was only 17 years old when he murdered Dink, and at the time received a reduced sentence of 22 years and 10 months on the charges of premeditated murder and possession of an unregistered weapon.
Court hearing on Wednesday
Yesterday (December 6), Samast appeared before judges at a courthouse in Turkey’s Trabzon province regarding newly released charges including ‘committing a crime on behalf of a terrorist organization although not being a member of a terrorist organization’. Samast attended the hearing in Turkey’s eastern Black Sea province under heavy security with many plain-clothes police forces roaming the courthouse premises. In Wednesday’s hearing, Samast did not make any statement. The court placed a travel ban on the 33-year-old assassin and scheduled his trial date for March 6, 2024.
November release
Samast’s release last month following 16 years of incarceration was met with widespread outrage among many in Turkey who decried the decision while lamenting the continued imprisonment of numerous political prisoners in the country and the erosion of Turkey’s judicial independence. Immediately following his November 16 release, a new indictment against Samast was issued calling for an additional 7-12 years of imprisonment on the above charges.
Hrant Dink’s assassination
Samast assassinated Dink on January 19, 2007 at point-blank range outside the Şişli, İstanbul headquarters of the journalist’s Agos Newspaper. Dink had long been a target of Turkish far-right nationalists due to his controversial statements regarding topics such as the Armenian Genocide, and was formally charged three times in court for ‘insulting Turkishness’.
The controversy surrounding Dink’s assassination intensified when photos leaked showing police forces posing with Samast following his arrest displaying an outstretched Turkish flag, leading to allegations that police members had sympathized with Samast and failed to place adequate protections on Dink leading up to his murder.
Hrant Dink remains both a celebrated and controversial icon in Turkey nearly 17 years after his death. His Agos Newspaper continues to operate, and the Hrant Dink Foundation was established in his honor. In January 2022, a major event was organized in İstanbul to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the journalist’s death.
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Written/translated for Medyascope by Leo Kendrick
