The 14^th Court for Serious Crimes of Istanbul, which is examining the case of the murder of founder and editor-in-chief of Turkey’s Agos Armenian Weekly Hrant Dink, has rejected the petition of Dink’s assassin Ogyun Samast to transfer him to a prison under a loose regime.

According to Cumhuriyet, on 14 November, Samast, who is sentenced to 22 years and 10 months for killing the Istanbul-Armenian journalist and bearing an illegal arm, appealed to the court with the demand to transfer him from a closed- prison to an open prison. In his petition, Samast stated that if his demand was not met, he would refuse to testify, writes ermenihaber.am.

Hrant Dink was killed after an armed assault that took place in front of the editorial office on January19, 2007.

On January 17, 2012, the court gave Yasin Hayal, the organizer of Dink’s murder, a life sentencing, while Ogyun Samast was sentenced to 22 years in prison.

In October 2014, the 5^th Court for Serious Crimes ruled to start the trial over Hrant Dink’s murder from scratch.

This time, all the culprits were supposed to be charged with “creating and managing a gang or participating therein”. In addition, the court adopted decisions on instigating criminal cases against nine persons who had held high offices during Dink’s murder, including former chief of police of Istanbul Celaletin Cerah.