First statement from the Ministry of Justice regarding the release of Ogün Samast!

While reactions continue regarding the decision to release Ogün Samast, the murderer of journalist Hrant Dink, yesterday, the first statement came from the General Directorate of Prisons and Detention Houses under the Ministry of Justice.

The statement regarding Samast's release included the following expressions:

"Following the trials held after the murder of Hrant Dink on January 19, 2007, Yasin Hayal was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment and 14 years, 22 months, and 75 days in prison, and his conditional release date is July 25, 2047.

Likewise, the other convict for the same crime, Erhan Tuncel, was sentenced to a total of 96 years in prison, and his conditional release date is July 26, 2040. The execution of the sentences of these two aforementioned convicts is still ongoing. As for Ogün Samast, as a result of the trial held at the Istanbul 2nd Juvenile High Criminal Court, the aggravated life imprisonment sentence given for the crime of 'premeditated murder' was determined as 21 years and 6 months, moving away from the lower limit of the 18-year prison sentence in accordance with Article 31 of the Turkish Penal Code due to his young age. In addition, with the consolidation of the 1-year and 4-month prison sentence he received for carrying an illegal weapon, a 22-year and 10-month prison sentence was finalized.

While the convict's sentence was being executed, due to the fact that he received an additional 2 years, 36 months, and 43 days of imprisonment for crimes committed in prison, the execution of the net 24-year, 46-month, and 43-day prison sentence began from January 24, 2007, which is the date of his detention. Although the convict's right to supervised release arose on February 19, 2022, he was not allowed to benefit from supervised release.

In the evaluations made regarding the aforementioned convict on January 19, 2023, and July 13, 2023, it was decided that he was not eligible for conditional release, and his conditional release was carried out on November 15, 2023. During this process, the convict's 5 requests to be transferred to an open penal institution since 2015 and his 2 requests for supervised release were not deemed appropriate. In this context, it is not a matter of him benefiting from the regulations regarding execution made with Law No. 7456. His sentence has been executed according to the general provisions of Law No. 5275."