ISTANBUL. – The Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court on Tuesday began the trial into the killing of Hrant Dink after a decision by the Supreme Court of Appeals overturned the Istanbul court’s first ruling on the murder.

Several MPs from main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and pro-Kurdish “Peace and Democracy Party” (BDP), public activists, and human rights advocates also attended the first session of the trial, reports OdaTV website of Turkey.

During the session, the prosecution motioned the court to arrest Erhan Tuncel, a prompter of Dink’s murder, who was released after the issuance of the initial ruling on the murder case.  

The court granted the prosecution’s request and, subsequently, the court was adjourned. 

To note, on January 17, 2012 the Turkish court found Yasin Hayal guilty of planning and organizing the murder of Hrant Dink—founder and chief editor of Istanbul’s Agos Armenian bilingual weekly, who was gunned down in 2007 in front of his office building—, and sentenced him to life in prison. Erhan Tuncel, on the other hand, was found not guilty of prompting Dink’s murder, and, instead, he was sentenced to ten years and six months for an explosion in a McDonald’s restaurant. But taking into account that Tuncel was already incarcerated for that amount of time, the court ruled his release. The court also found the nineteen other defendants not guilty of being members of a terrorist organization.

When the Supreme Court of Appeals overturned in May the Istanbul court’s first ruling on the murder, the case was sent to the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court.