The Trabzon prosecutor`s office, which had previously ruled that some police officers and gendarmerie officials implicated in the 2007 murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink did not need to be investigated further, decided on Feb. 14 to further investigate them in line with the ruling of the Rize Heavy Criminal Court in relation to the case, Today`s Zaman reports.

Dink family lawyers had filed two lawsuits against eight military personnel, including former commander of the Trabzon Gendarmerie Regiment Col. Ali Oz. When the prosecutor`s office in Trabzon did not further investigate those people, the lawyers of the Dink family demanded the Rize Heavy Criminal Court rule in favor of restarting the investigation because the Trabzon court did not fulfill its duties. The Rize court accepted Dink family lawyers` appeal and demanded the Trabzon court restart the investigation. Then the Trabzon court complied with the demand from the Rize court. The Trabzon court is now expected to enlarge the investigation to include a probe into such people as the former director of the Trabzon Police Department, Resat Altay.

Meanwhile, as President Abdullah Gьl ordered the State Audit Institution (DDK) to investigate Dink`s assassination, officials from the DDK requested on Feb. 14 written testimonies from Dink family lawyers.