A prosecutor on Friday, June 17 demanded up to 27 years in jail for Ogun Samast, the hitman in the murder of Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, on charges of premeditated murder and holding an unlicensed gun.

Istanbul Public Prosecutor Ali Demir announced his opinion as to the accusations directed at Samast during Friday's hearing at the Istanbul 2nd Juvenile Court, where the defendant is standing trial. He asked the court to keep Samast behind bars from 19 up to 27 years.

Dink was killed in broad daylight outside his newspaper's offices on Jan. 19, 2007 by Samast, who was a minor at the time of the murder. The ensuing investigation and trial exposed the hitman's questionable links to various individuals tied to the Istanbul police and Trabzon Gendarmerie Command. Despite significant evidence pointing to the involvement of various officers in organizing the plot to kill Dink, the identity of the masterminds of his assassination remains elusive. Lawyers representing the Dink family have long alleged that the murder was the doing of Ergenekon, a clandestine group charged with plotting to overthrow the government, Today's Zaman reported.