Dink’s murderer sentenced to nearly 23 years in prison
Ogun Samast, a Turkish ultra-nationalist who killed Turkey-based Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, was sentenced to 22 years, 10 months in prison.
Samast was sentenced by the court to 21 years, six months for "premeditated murder" and one year, four months for "carrying an unlicensed gun."
The Istanbul-based juvenile court ruled that the hitman will stay in prison for 19 years since he has been in jail four years.
Hrant Dink, the editor of Agos weekly, was shot outside his Istanbul office in broad daylight by confessed triggerman Ogun Samast on Jan. 19, 2007.
Samast had confessed to gunning down Dink, but the ensuing investigation had been highly controversial. The investigation made it obvious that the young man had not acted alone but was in fact driven by a group of people whom he called "older brothers" and who had plotted to commit the act for more than a year.
Samast, was captured about one day after the murder. Other suspects, including Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel, were captured in the following days on charges of soliciting Samast for Dink's murder.
