Despite his complaints, Dink never formally requested protection from the authorities because he did not want to lead a sheltered life. His lawyer, Erdal Doğan, confirmed this feeling of Dink.[5][6] A week before his assassination, Dink wrote that he felt "nervous and afraid" owing to the intensity of the hate mail he had been receiving: "I see myself as frightened, the way a dove might be, but I know that the people in this country would never harm a dove."[7][8]