Defendant involved in Dink's case was armed in the courtroom

One of the main defendants in the case of the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink has made a statement that has shocked an Istanbul court.

According to Turkish news agency Dogan, Erhan Tunjel has particularly said that he had a knife in the pocket as he entered the courtroom in one of the court hearings over Dink’s assassination case.

“I and Hayal [Yasin Hayal, the second defendant in the case] had found a knife in the penitentiary. It was in my pocket in the courtroom. We were thinking about handing it to you, but then we decided to give it to the convoys. And later I threw it in the toilet,” said he.

Tunjel dismissed widespread news in Turkish media that an attempted murder had been planned against him in the prison as false. Ha also said that he did his best to prevent the murder planned against Hrant Dink.

Earlier on Monday an Istanbul court ruled that Ogun Samast, the main defendant in the case, is to be tried at a juvenile court as he was under 18 at the time of the assassination. This means that 5 years of imprisonment will be reduced from whatever sentence he receives.

Hrant Dink, a Turkish journalist of Armenian descent and the editor-in-chief of the daily Agos, was murdered in front of his newspaper's office in Istanbul in January 2007.