A court in Istanbul has handed down a verdict of six life sentences in the trial over the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, official media reported, according to Middle East Eye.

In the trial of 76 defendants, four defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment, two were given aggravated life sentences, an additional 23 were sentenced to jail, while 33 defendants in total were acquitted, according to Anadolu news agency.

Among those sentenced were former police chiefs and security officials.

Dink, an outspoken advocate for the rights of Turkey's now small Armenian minority, was shot dead in Istanbul in broad daylight in January 2007. At the time of his murder he had been facing trial on charges of "denigrating Turkishness". His death sparked a major outcry across the country. Tens of thousands of people, mostly ethnic Turks and Kurds, marched in his funeral, with protesters carrying signs reading "We are all Hrant Dink" and "We are all Armenian."

Speaking to the news site Bianet, Turkey's Reporters Without Borders (RSF) chief Erol Onderoglu welcomed the ruling, but said it was not the end of the affair.

"[The] Hrant Dink case is not over. This is the third trial and it does not comprise behind-the-scenes actors who threatened him with a statement, threw him before violent groups as an object of hate or failed to act so that he would get killed.