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January
23, 2006
VOL.
44, NO. 2Oakland,
CA
Pope John Paul
II’s gunman
released from Turkish prison
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Mehmet Ali Agca, the gunman who shot
John Paul II in St. Peter’s square in 1981, was freed from a Turkish
prison on Jan. 12, completing decades of jail time for the assassination
attempt and the 1979 murder of a Turkish journalist that continues to
stir controversy.
Agca, a Turk, did not make a statement as he left the prison under heavy
police escort. He was immediately taken to a military base to enlist for
military service, which he dodged as a young man.
Agca’s release has stirred fresh controversy among Turkish officials
and observers critical of the reduced prison sentence he received for
committing the 1979 murder of Abdi Ipekci, the liberal editor-in-chief
of Turkey’s Milliyet daily newspaper.
Turkey’s Justice Minister Cemil Cicek called for further judicial
review of the court ruling that drastically reduced Agca’s prison
sentence to under six years and led to his early release.
“As the justice minister, I will ask the appeals court to examine
the release of Agca,” Cicek told a news conference in Istanbul.
Agca was extradited to Turkey in 2000 after serving nearly 20 years in
jail for repeatedly shooting John Paul as he rode through St. Peter’s
Square in an open-air jeep.
Upon his arrival in Turkey, Agca was initially sentenced to serve 10 years
in prison for the Ipekci slaying.
In November 2004, a Turkish court re-sentenced Agca to life in prison,
a 36-year term. But the ruling also applied changes in Turkey’s
penal code, which qualified Agca to reduce his sentence by 19 years for
the time he served in Italian custody. An additional 10 years were cut
from his sentence as part of a national amnesty passed in 2000.
Agca has been linked to the Gray Wolves, an ultra-nationalist group that
clashed with leftist groups during the 1970s violence that roiled Turkey.
He allegedly killed Ipekci for writing editorials that criticized rightist
groups.
Agca’s release has also renewed questions regarding his motives
for attempting to assassinate John Paul.
Agca has given contradictory testimony, telling La Repubblica in March
2005 that “nobody in the world” knew of the assassination
attempt while also claiming that the attack was part of a Vatican conspiracy.
The Vatican released a statement saying the Holy See “submits to
the decisions of the tribunals involved in this matter.”
Mehmet Ali Agca arrives at a military recruitment center under police escort shortly after he was freed from a prison in Istanbul, Jan. 12. The Turkish army wanted to claim Agca, 48, for missed military service, a legal obligation for Turkish men. He was later declared unfit for military service.
RNS PHOTO/REUTERS/Fatih Saribas
