Key Suspect of Hrant Dink Murder Case Arrested

ISTANBUL — A key suspect in the investigation into the murder of the Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink has been arrested in the Black Sea province of Trabzon, with the trial due to restart from scratch in September following a Supreme Court ruling, The Hurriyet Daily News reports.

Ersin Yolcu’s arrest was carried out after the Supreme Court reversed the judgment on his release from jail. Yolcu is now again being held in Trabzon’s Bahçeçik prison, pending the second trial.

 Yolcu had been sentenced to 12 years and six month in prison, but was released in 2010 after the court ruled that there was not enough evidence proving that he was a “member of a terrorist organization.” He was together with another key suspect, Ahmet I.skender.

 Dink, the renowned editor-in-chief of Agos, was shot in front of his office in Istanbul on Jan. 19, 2007. The triggerman, Ogün Samast, 17-years-old at the time of the murder, and Yasin Hayal, who was charged of being the instigator of the assassination, were convicted of the murder.

 However, following the five year trial, the court ruled on Jan. 17, 2012 that it saw no “deep state” role in the plotting of the assassination, despite serious claims that a number of civil servants were “indirectly” involved and documents indicating this.

 The ruling was overturned a year later by the Supreme Court of Appeals, which led to prosecutors restarting their investigation into the murder.