Five charged in murder of Turkish-Armenian author News
Five charged in murder of Turkish-Armenian author

[JURIST] Turkish prosecutors have charged five people in connection with the murder of Hrant Dink [BBC profile], the Turkish-Armenian journalist who was shot and killed [JURIST report] last week. The five are accused of belonging to an armed gang, and prosecutors are investigating whether other political or illegal organizations are tied to the group. Dink was convicted last year [JURIST report] of "insulting the Turkish identity" in violation of Article 301 [JURIST news archive; Amnesty International backgrounder] of Turkey's penal code after writing about the killings of an estimated one million Ottoman Armenians [ANI backgrounder; Turkish DC Embassy backgrounder] in the early 20th century. Dink was awaiting a retrial [JURIST report] after his conviction had been overturned, and his writings had prompted death threats from Turkish nationalists.

Ogun Samast, 17, has confessed to the shooting, and another member of the group charged admitted having provided Samast with money and the weapon. Samast told journalists that he was "bothered" by Dink's writings and speeches and that he felt no remorse for the killing. AP has more. Turkish Weekly has additional coverage.

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