Türkiye: charges dropped in trial for murder of journalist Hrant Dink after 18 years of stalling

After almost 18 years of judicial procrastination, justice has been thwarted. On 10 January, seven members of a far-right group from Trabzon, a city in northeastern Türkiye — including Ogün Samast, the man who shot Hrant Dink on 19 January 2007 and was convicted of the murder in 2011 — were due to stand trial for complicity in the journalist’s murder, committed “in the name of an illegal organisation without being part of it”. Yet after nearly two decades of stalling judgment to determine if the crime was indeed linked to the illegal organisation in question, FETÖ (“Fetullahist Terrorist Organization”), the accused benefitted from a statute of limitations and were spared trial. 

“Hrant Dink was openly targeted by serious threats in the streets, in courthouses, and from certain government defence and security agencies — including the General Staff and intelligence — due to his articles. Yet he was never protected, and many of those responsible for his murder have still not been brought to justice. RSF condemns the blatant lack of political will and legal resources to fully solve this murder case within a reasonable timeframe, via a clear, united procedure. Justice has been sacrificed during these 18 years of political triage of the accused — prosecuting only those suspected of belonging to the so-called FETÖ organisation — and incessant judicial twists and turns that have culminated in the unjust application of the statute of limitations. We stand in solidarity with Hrant Dink's family and, alongside them, call for all those responsible for this heinous murder to be tried and convicted at long last.”

Erol Onderoglu

RSF’s Representative in Türkiye

From 2004 until the day he died, Hrant Dink was subject to a hate campaign and judicial lynching due to the content published in the weekly Agos, where he was editor-in-chief. 

At least ten years of impunity for accused officials

In the first decade following the murder, no intelligence officers or members of the security forces were brought to justice. It was only after Türkiye was condemned by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on 14 September 2010 that a trial was finally held against 76 officials and state agents. Yet some of the accused are missing from the case. Neither the general staff officials who threatened Hrant Dink with a communiqué on 22 February 2004, which exposed him to the wrath of ultra-nationalist groups, nor the two intelligence agents who summoned him to the Istanbul prefecture on 24 February 2004 to threaten him have been charged. 

The struggle for justice continues

At the end of 2023, lawyers for Hrant Dink's family petitioned the Constitutional Court to overturn the acquittals and dismissals of 13 defendants, including Istanbul police chief Celalettin Cerrah, Trabzon police chief Resat Altay, Istanbul police intelligence chief Ahmet Ilhan Güler, and national police intelligence chief Sabri Uzun. The Constitutional Court has yet to take a decision. 

Another trial is still underway, and was postponed, yet again, on 10 January: certain intelligence service officers and members of state security forces from Trabzon Province are accused of having turned a blind eye to the preparations for the murder of Ogün Samast and of attempting to destabilise the government through their inaction. Following a referral from the Court of Cassation, which overturned the sentences — ranging from three years to life imprisonment — of 15 of the 27 accused on 26 March 2021 the officers and officials are being retried for “premeditated homicide” and “violation of the constitutional order”, facing life imprisonment with no possibility of pardon. On 31 May, the public prosecutor requested the conviction of eight of these intelligence and police agents. The verdict of the 14th chamber of the Istanbul Assize Court has been postponed until 7 February 2025.