Posted on 01/08/2006 10:07:11 AM PST by Brian Mosely
MAN WHO SHOT POPE TO BE FREED
http://dwb.newsobserver.com/24hour/world/story/3053646p-11750122c.html
Published: Jan 8, 2006
Modified: Jan 8, 2006 1:04 PM
Report: Man who shot pope to be freed
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - A court has approved the release of the man who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981, saying he completed his prison term in Turkey, the semiofficial Anatolia news agency reported Sunday.
Mehmet Ali Agca was extradited to Turkey in 2000 after serving almost 20 years in Italy for shooting and wounding the pope in St. Peter's Square in Rome. His motives for the attack remain unclear.
Agca, 46, was expected to be released as early as Monday.
Not to those who understand how the KGB works.
The Pope forgave him a long time ago.
More:
Anatolia said he was expected to be immediately enlisted by the military for obligatory service, Anatolia said.
His lawyer and family said they were not aware of the court decision.
"I'm surprised," his lawyer, Dogan Yildirim, told The Associated Press by telephone. "If its true, justice will finally be served. He has been in prison for so long."
Agca's sister, Fatma Agca, also was surprised.
"We did not hear it," Fatma Agca told the AP from family home in the southeastern city of Malatya. She refused to comment.
Upon his return to Turkey, Agca immediately was sent to prison to serve a 10-year sentence for murdering Turkish journalist Abdi Ipekci in 1979. He was separately sentenced to seven years and four months for two robberies in Turkey the same year.
An Istanbul court ruled in 2004 that Agca should only serve the longest sentence _ his conviction for killing Ipekci. That 10-year sentence was changed twice because of new Turkish laws.
Agca served less than six months in Turkish prison in 1979 for killing Ipekci before he escaped, resurfacing in 1981 in Rome.
Given that earlier time served, the prison asked a court for permission to release Agca. The court ruled that Agca could now be freed this week, Anatolia said.
Agca reportedly identified with the Gray Wolves, a far right-wing militant group that fought street battles against leftists in the 1970s. He first confessed to killing Ipekci, one of the country's most prominent left-wing newspaper columnists, but later retracted his statements.
hmmm...could we get a twofer contract on him and that muzzslime that killed navyman Robert Steitham?
In related news.... Pope Benedict is travelling to Turkey this year...
Put him in a sealed room with Hinckley and Dahmer, one knife, and a dinner plate.
--musta had a better lawyer than Sirhan Sirhan---
Dahmer is already dead.
Is it "appropriate" for a heathen such as myself not to forgive him and to demand that he be put back in prison?
I'll even go one better: Execute him in Rome.
Oh yeah, he was killed in prison, right?
We know what would be for dinner then. ;-)
I not sure how I feel about this.
Get the best of both worlds and forgive him personally, then still demand that justice be served and lock him back up.
This doesn't bother me at all because 1) the victim specifically forgave him and 2) the offender has taken responsibility for the crime and expressed full remorse.
Yes, exactly right. Forgiveness is not to be confused with Justice carried out by proper governmental system. There are consequences to wrongful behavior. Post #13 has an excellent point.
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