Justice for hate crime
January 17, 2012
A man has been found guilty and given a life sentence for having instigated the murder of the Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in 2007.
The sentence was handed down by a court in Istanbul on Tuesday to 31-year-old Yasin Hayal. But the court acquitted him, as well as 19 other defendants, on charges of being part of a terrorist organization.
Hrant Dink was a journalist of Armenian descent who was subject to violent criticism from Turkish nationalists for referring to the mass killings of Armenians in the early 20th century as genocide.
He was shot dead in broad daylight near his office building in January 2007.
Last July, the man who pulled the trigger, Ogun Samast, was sentenced in a juvenile court to over 20 years in prison for the murder.
The case has won international attention, especially from the European Union, as it highlights concerns over Turkey's human rights record.
After the sentence, some 200 protesters marched with Dink's family from the court to the scene of the murder, to protest that the court had not looked at the alleged role of state officials in the crime.
Author: Sarah Berning (AP, AFP, Reuters)
Editor: Michael Lawton