January 25, 2007 - 17:49 AMT
Ogün Samast has regretted the murder
'Agos' bilingual Armenian-Turkish weekly editor Hrant Dink's suspected murderer Ogün Samast signed a confession saying that he regretted the murder, and that his intention had been to give himself up to the police in Trabzon after meeting with his family. This amounts to a change in his confession because during his preliminary investigation he had said he did not regret killing Dink. "While I was watching TV at my uncle's house, just after the murder, I understood that I committed a big crime because people were saying 'Turkey will be in a very difficult situation." 17-year-old Samast said. Meanwhile, Dink's lawyer Erdal Doğan mentioned that they would demand a bone analysis test to determine Samast's real age. If Samast's actual age turns out to be above 18, he stands to be tried with a life sentence. Hakan Hakeri, Associate Professor of Criminal Law at Selçuk University in Konya, said Samast would receive a sentence of 18 to 24 years in prison, since he is not legally an adult. But in this case, it would increase the sentence of the so-called "older brothers" behind the murder.