“Trabzon 2nd Criminal Court of Peace on Thursday convicted six of eight suspects of neglect of duty in a case on claims of negligence in preventing the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, in a rare positive development since the start of the trial four years ago,” Today’s Zaman newspaper reports.

“Ergin Cinmen, a Dink family lawyer, who spoke to Today’s Zaman shortly after yesterday’s trial, said although the decision was welcome, it was unlikely to serve as a groundbreaking ruling in the course of the main murder trial in Istanbul,” the newspaper reads.

“Much can be said about this ruling,” he said. “This is the best ruling a peace court could give, we demanded prison sentences on charges of knowingly assisting the murder. Col. Ali Oz and his friends should be tried in the Istanbul court as main suspects,” the source says.

“He said it was a positive development that the officers are going to do jail time -- albeit briefly -- but he also expressed his concern that the Supreme Court of Appeals can overturn the ruling. “The court did what needed to be done legally. But the Istanbul court and the Trabzon court are still putting up resistance, thus preventing the truth from coming out. Normally, this case should have been merged with the main trial,” the newspaper reads.