Hrant's friends group hope just court decision

PanARMENIAN.Net - A group of people who identify themselves as "Friends of Hrant" released a press statement yesterday, as the seventh hearing in the murder case of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink took place at the Istanbul Criminal Court. "The one who pulled the trigger is being tried, but who are the real owners of this gun? During the Ergenekon operations, we read about a senior police officer saying, 'This organization is the one who killed Hrant Dink, but we cannot prove it.' Should we keep hoping that the truth will be revealed some day?" the group asked, Today's Zaman reports.

Some suspects in the Dink case have been linked to the Ergenekon gang, a shadowy network believed to have been attempting to carry out a number of high-profile assassinations.



The statement also talked about the testimony of Capt. Husamettin Polat, who said at a separate hearing that Col. Ali Oz persistently refused to deal with information about the murder plot. He also claimed that Oz wanted the informant, Coskun Igc, to be warned to "not talk about this incident" after the murder.



Dink was shot dead outside the offices of the Agos newspaper in Istanbul in January 2007. Police arrested the suspected gunman, Ogun Samast, and his alleged associate, Hayal, within days. There are a total of 20 suspects in the case, eight of whom are currently under arrest.