No amnesty for Pope gunman

2000-12-27 14:34

Ankara, Turkey - A court has denied Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turk who shot Pope John Paul II, early release under a new amnesty for prisoners, a Turkish newspaper said on Wednesday.

Agca, serving 10 years for the 1979 murder of a newspaper editor, does not qualify for early release, the court ruled, because his sentence had already been reduced under a previous amnesty, Hurriyet newspaper said.

The gunman's lawyer Sevket Can Ozbay but said he would appeal the decision.

Court oficials could not be reached for comment.

It was not clear if Agca would have to serve an additional seven-year sentence for armed robbery. He was convicted earlier this month for robbing an Istanbul soda factory in 1979. He is appealing that verdict.

Turkey enacted the amnesty - which reduces sentences by 10 years - last week to ease tension in overcrowded prisons. Nearly half of Turkey's 72 000 prisoners are set to walk free.

Agca's lawyers immediately applied to court to seek the gunman's release.

Agca was extradited to Turkey in June after Italy pardoned him for the 1981 attack in St. Peter's Square that left the pope gravely wounded. He served nearly 20 years in prison in Italy.

The gunman carried out the attack after escaping from prison in Turkey, where he was being held for the killing of newspaper editor Abdi Ipekci. Turkey later convicted Agca in absentia in the killing and sentenced him to death. A 1991 amnesty reduced that sentence to 10 years in prison.

- AP