Rights court faults Turkey over Dink murder

The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday that Turkish authorities had failed to prevent a journalist's assassination even though they knew that ultra-nationalists were plotting his death.
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was gunned down outside his office in January 2007 after receiving death threats from far-right groups over his calls for Turkey to accept its role in the mass killings of Armenians in 1915.
The Strasbourg court said authorities had failed to investigate seriously the threat of an assassination attempt, and ordered them to pay 100,000 euros in compensation to Dink's widow and children.
"The Court took the view that the Turkish security forces could reasonably be considered to have been aware of the intense hostility towards Hrant Dink in nationalist circles," the Court said in its ruling.
"None of the three authorities informed of the planned assassination and its imminent realisation had taken action to prevent it."
Dink, who was editor-in-chief of Turkish-Armenian newspaper "Agos", was given a suspended jail sentence before his death under article 301 of Turkey's penal code, for insulting "Turkishness" in his writings on the mass killings.
The Court of Human Rights said the Turkish ruling on Dink had violated his freedom of expression and made him a target for extreme nationalists.
The chief suspect in Dink's assassination is facing trial in Turkey alongside 18 other suspected accomplices.
Another 29 people, including ex-army officers, have been arrested in an investigation into a far-right gang said to be behind a series of killings, including that of Dink.
Turkey was also ordered to pay 5,000 euros to Dink's brother Hasrof Dink and a further 28,595 euros in costs and expenses.