The trial of the murder of the Armenian intellectual Hrant Dink on January 19, 2007 has started on June 2 at the 14th Heavy Penalty Court in Besiktas, Istanbul. The trial of the 18 accused, of whom 12 had been imprisoned, was closed for the press as the marksman Ogun Samast is under 18. Whilst the hearing, at which 600 lawyer appeared on the side of Hrant Dink, continued, nearly 1000 people followed a call of the "Coordination to watch the Hrant Dink trial" and gathered at Besiktas Square to defend Hrant Dink. The PSAKD (Pir Sultan Abdal Cultural Association), the trade unions DISK and KESK , the Socialist Platform of the Oppressed ( ESP ), the Party for a Democratic Society ( DTP ) and many other democratic and revolutionary organisations joined and supported the action. The mass carried posters and shouted slogans such as "We are all Armenian" and "We are all Hrant". In the common statement of the Coordination, it said: "We are here to defend the brotherhood of the people. We demand justice".
At the hearing, at which many international observers took place, the accused had to make a statement. Ogun Samast, who had pulled the trigger, refused to make a statement. Erhan Tuncel, one of those who had put them up, said: "I work for the state. I do not understand why I am here." By that, he gave away who the real murderers are in the Dink murder case. Tuncel explained that he has close contact with 8 agents working for the state's intelligence service and demanded to take their statements, too.
While four of the accused were released, the trial was postponed to October 1, 2007.