Hrant Dink’s assassin Samast released on parole for ‘good behavior’

Ogün Samast, the assassin of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, on Nov. 15 was released from the Bolu F Type Prison on parole for “good behavior,” Duvar English reports.

Samast, who has been in prison for 16 years and 10 months, was being observed by the prison administration for one year.

Accordingly, Samast “met” the parole conditions for “showing good behavior during the observations made for his personal development,” and was released.

Bahri Belen, one of the lawyers of the Dink family, told Gazete Duvar that “There was a possibility of him being released earlier. But it was postponed because he committed other crimes in prison. He was released with the help of the execution laws that were introduced later, in other words, with a ‘secret amnesty’.”

Samast was previously expected to be released from prison in 2020 to serve his last 1.5 years under parole. But his imprisonment was extended after receiving another jail sentence of five years, one month and 13 days on charges of attacking guardians.

Editor of bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos Hrant Dink was shot in broad daylight as he left his Istanbul office in January 2007.

His killer Samast was 17 when the killing took place. He was sentenced by a juvenile court to an aggravated life in prison but it was reduced by one-third due to his age. At last, he was sentenced to 22 years and 10 months in prison in total. According to the law on execution of sentences, Samast needed to serve 15 years and 2 months of this sentence, the last 1.5 years of which would be spent under parole.