Two non-commissioned officers who knew about the plans to kill Hrant Dink but did not take measures to prevent it are being charged with negligence, the Trabzon prosecutor's office said. The two gendarmerie officers were transferred out of Trabzon last July and will face a prison term between six months to two years if found guilty.

Hrant Dink, editor-in-chief of Armenian-Turkish newspaper Agos, was shot dead by a 17-year-old from Trabzon on Jan. 21 of this year and several suspects are currently being tried for instigating the crime.

An informant told the Trabzon police about the plans but the threat against Dink was not communicated to Istanbul, reports said. Inspectors who investigated the culpability of security officials had asked for criminal investigations concerning four officers but the governor's office approved the investigations of only two. Previously, a court had decided former police chiefs Ramazan Akyurek and Resat Altay, and six other police officers need not be investigated, Dogan News Agency reports.