The two men had initially claimed that their target was the Armenian Patriarch in Turkey, Mesrob Mutafyan. However, at their first hearing in July, they claimed that they had been running away from pimps and had sheltered in the church. At yesterday's (30 July) hearing, they returned to their first statement.
Return to initial statement
According to Hrant Dink's newspaper, "Agos", the two detained defendants attended the hearing yesterday.
Özalp had previously stated that they had entered the church garden by accident. He admitted though that his statement had been a lie and had been aimed at avoiding punishment. He repeated that the real target had been Mutafyan:
"The statements İ gave the police and the prosecution were true. Before our last hearing İ talked to Volkan in the court lockup and he said that his cell mates had told him [that the case would last a long time if we stuck to our statements]. 'İf you change them, you will be released', they had said. İ got frightened and changed my statement."
The court took into account the time the defendants had spent in detention and the fact that the evidence had been collected and decided on their release. (EÖ/EÜ/AG)
