HRANT DİNK TRIAL
Sentence for Ogün Samast Approved
On 25 July 2011, the Istanbul 2nd Juvenile High Criminal Court sentenced Ogün Samast to imprisonment of 22 years and ten months on charges of "premeditated murder" and "unlicensed possession of weapons" in the context of the murder trial regarding Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.
Samast's lawyer Levent Yıldırım had previously announced that they expected the Court of Appeals to overturn the ruling. However, the Court of Appeals 1st Criminal Chamber upheld the verdict.
In accordance with the Law on Criminal Execution, Samast has to serve two thirds of the sentence. This would mean that he remained in prison for 14 years and eight months. The period of four years when Samast was detained after his arrest and during the trial procedures is going to be subtracted.
Consequently, Ogün Samast is going to stay in prison for ten years and eight months. (IC/VK)