HRANT DINK MURDER TRIAL TO START ON JULY 2

The trial of those responsible for the murder of Hrant Dink, editor of the Istanbul-based Agos weekly news magazine, is scheduled to begin in that city on July 2.

A total of 19 people, the actual gunman and 18 others charged in aiding and abetting in the January 19th shooting of Hrant Dink outside the offices of Agos, will go on trial.

The prosecution will demand a prison term of between 18 to 24 years for Ogun Samast, a 17 year-old jobless secondary school graduate who confessed to the shooting. Samast also faces an additional prison term of between 8 1/2 to 18 years for being a member of a terrorist group.

It is the claim of the prosecution that Hrant Dink was targeted by this terrorist organization based in the Black Sea city of Trabzon, a bastion of Turkish nationalism.

The indictment call for life sentences for two alleged ringleaders of the group for instigating the killing. Both Erhan Tuncel and Yasin Hayal, the two in question, also face additional prison terms for being "leaders of a terrorist organization."