ANKARA, MAY 4, NOYAN TAPAN - ARMENIANS TODAY. The lawyers defending the interests of the family of the assassinated Hrant Dink have applied to the Istanbul prosecutor's office with the request to accelerate the trial on the murder case, the Turkish mass media reported. "The prosecutor(s) of the case should be relieved of other duties and court hearings," the laywers said, adding that the Dink murder case-related trial takes much time and effort. In an application filed to the prosecutors, the stages of the murder are described: its preparation, formation of public opinion, murder, and destruction of evidence after the murder. It is noted that the preparation stage included the local media publications aimed at creating a negative image of Hrant Dink and setting the society against him. In the lawyers's opinion, the actions of police and gendarmes were also part of the preparation stage as no preventive action was taken in defence of Dink, although there was sufficient information and facts about a murder under preparation.

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