The prosecutor conducting the investigation into the 2007 killing of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink once again called convicted hitman Ogün Samast to testify and asked him about the gendarmerie's role in the murder.

Prosecutor Muammer Akkaş asked Samast, who had earlier been sentenced to 23 years, 10 months in prison for Dink's murder by a juvenile court, whether the gendarmerie had played a role in the murder. Samast gave testimony for two hours, this time as a witness rather than a defendant, before being returned to his prison cell.

Akkaş decided to hear from Samast again after serious claims were made recently by a secret witness.

The secret witness testified in March as part of the investigation regarding the 2007 murder. He claimed that Samast had been “sent off by the Trabzon Gendarmerie Command to İstanbul and welcomed by the İstanbul Gendarmerie Command upon his arrival.” The secret witness, known by the codename Barış, said both the Trabzon Gendarmerie Command and İstanbul Gendarmerie Command were complicit in the journalist's murder. He also claimed that Giresun Gendarmerie Regional Commander Gen. Dursun Ali Karaduman had played a role in the assassination. Barış said that the initial plan was to take Samast to Azerbaijan via Artvin's Hopa district after he assassinated Dink. The secret witness also claimed that gendarmerie intelligence units had been monitoring Dink since 2003 and that a special team had been set up to monitor Dink's every move.

The prosecutor will also call on Erhan Tuncel, a former Dink murder suspect who was acquitted of all charges regarding the Dink murder, and Yasin Hayal, who received a life sentence for his involvement in the killing, to testify in the coming days.

Cihan