Turkey: Court orders release of 5 suspects in Dink case

By Murat Kaya

ISTANBUL (AA) - An Istanbul court on Friday ordered the release of five suspects with alleged links to the killing of a prominent Armenian-Turkish journalist in 2007, a judicial source said.

Former gendarmerie officers Abdullah Dinc, Yusuf Bozca, Ali Baris Sevindik, and Volkan Sahin, as well as a publishing house owner Adem Sarigul had been remanded in custody last summer over the murder of Hrant Dink.

Dinc and Bozca were remanded in July 2016, while the others were remanded a month later.

The 14th High Criminal Court ruled their release under judicial supervision and an international travel ban, the source said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions over talking to the media.

Dink, editor-in-chief of the Armenian-Turkish newspaper Agos, was killed outside his office on Jan. 19, 2007 in a case that has stirred intrigue and conspiracy theories.

Ogun Samast was jailed for 23 years in 2011 for the killing. Samast, who was aged 17 at the time of the shooting, claimed he killed Dink for “insulting Turkishness”.

Although Samast is the only person to be jailed for the murder, speculation at the involvement of others has persisted.

In April, Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) - which Turkey accuses of having plotted last year's deadly July 15 coup attempt - was officially tied to the case.

A 120-page indictment said that soldiers and police involved in the Dink murder later played an active role in the coup.

FETO leader Fetullah Gulen, former prosecutor Zekeriya Oz, the former editor-in-chief of the Gulenist Zaman newspaper Ekrem Dumanli as well as journalists Adem Yavuz Arslan, Faruk Mercan and Ercan Gun were charged with "intentional killing" and "attempting to remove the constitutional order".