In the trial against those behind the murder of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, an Istanbul court has postponed its decision. The verdict, originally expected on Friday, is now to be announced on March 26. The reason given for the postponement was the inability of Judge Ferhat Şahin to attend due to "heart surgery."

Hrant Dink was shot dead in the open street outside the building of his Armenian-Turkish weekly newspaper Agos in Istanbul on January 19, 2007. For years he had been persecuted by nationalist forces in society and the judiciary because he described the genocide of the Armenian people in the Ottoman Empire as such. Even shortly before his death, he was subjected to hostility from ultranationalist circles and judicial persecution - for "insulting Turkishness." Dink stood up for the rights of minorities and for reconciliation between Armenians and Turks, and fought for democracy, freedom and social debate about the genocide of 1915. To this day, the Turkish government categorically rejects this classification.

A total of 76 defendants are on trial in the Hrant Dink murder case - including police officers who are alleged to have known about the murder plans - six are in custody, thirteen others are fugitives. Several people have already been convicted, including the assassin, who was a minor at the time of the crime. However, the masterminds in the state apparatus have been covered up to this day. Last March in Düzce, western Turkey, a suspect in the Dink trial was shot dead by unknown persons in his car. A retired intelligence officer and sergeant in the Turkish military police, Şeref Ateş was suspected of involvement in the Armenian journalist's murder. He was remanded in custody in 2016 but released in 2017.