An Istanbul court today agreed that Ogun Samast, the suspected gunman in the murder of Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, can be tried in juvenile court because he was 17 years old at the time of the shooting, news reports said.

Hrant Dink, founder of Agos newspaper and an ethnic Armenian, wrote extensively on the killings of Armenians at the turn of the last century before he was assassinated on 19 January 2007. Before his death, Dink – who advocated for Turkish-Armenian reconciliation – had faced prosecution under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, for allegedly denigrating “Turkishness.”

In September 2010, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Turkey had failed to protect Dink despite warnings that ultra-nationalists were plotting to kill him.

Today was the 15th session of the trial in Dink’s murder.

Two suspected masterminds behind the attack are already on trial in a regular court. A total of 18 suspects were arrested in 2007 as accomplices in Dink’s murder.

Hrant Dink was named an IPI World Press Freedom Hero in 2010.