ISTANBUL, 12 January 2006 — The Turkish gunman who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981 was released from prison yesterday, after serving more than 25 years in Italy and Turkey. Authorities said, however, they would review his case, and suggested he may be returned to prison. A white sedan whisked Mehmet Ali Agca through the gates of the high-security Kartal Prison. Nationalist supporters who had fought alongside Agca in street battles against leftists in the 1970s cheered and tossed flowers.
Agca, 48, wearing a bright blue sweater and jeans, had served the prison time for both the plot against the pontiff and the slaying of a Turkish journalist. He was freed five years after he was pardoned by Italy and extradited to Turkey. He had served 20 years in Italy, where John Paul forgave him in a visit to his prison cell in 1983.
Later yesterday, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek ordered that Agca’s case be reviewed “to make sure that no errors were committed in the complicated case.” Agca would remain free until an appeals court made the final decision, Cicek said. “His release today does not mean that the release is a guaranteed right,” Cicek told reporters, noting there had been several cases in which prisoners released by mistake were returned to prisons. The minister appeared to be responding to widespread criticism of his release after only serving five years for the murder of the journalist.
After his release, Agca — who initially was handcuffed — reported to a military recruitment center. As he left, uncuffed, he handed a journalist a photocopy of a Time magazine cover showing him with the pope and the headline: “Why forgive?” Agca, who had dodged the draft in the 1970s, then went for a routine checkup at a military hospital, where he was being screened to see if he was fit for mandatory military service. It was unclear whether the army would require him to serve. Agca’s lawyer said his client had applied previously to serve a shortened term in the military.
Agca slipped away through a back door only used by high military commanders and his whereabouts was not immediately known. “We are happy. We endlessly thank the Turkish state,” said his brother, Adnan.
He said one of the first things Agca wanted to do was order a typical Turkish meal of beans and rice at a restaurant overlooking the Bosporus Strait, the narrow waterway that bisects Istanbul and joins the European and Asian continents. “He will lead a life as any other Turkish citizen,” the brother said.
Asked to comment about reports that Agca had requested money for media interviews, the brother said: “We don’t need any money. Love is more important than money. We don’t want money.” Outside the hospital, about 250 left-wing activists staged a protest to denounce his release. “Agca will pay!” they shouted, holding pictures of comrades killed by Agca’s Gray Wolves.
Agca shot the pope as he rode in an open car in St. Peter’s Square in Rome on May 13, 1981, and was captured immediately. John Paul was hit in the abdomen, left hand and right arm, but recovered because Agca’s bullets missed vital organs. Agca has never offered a motive for the shooting.
Many Turks were surprised and outraged at last week’s court decision releasing Agca on parole after serving 4 1/2 years in prison for killing a left-wing columnist, Abdi Ipekci, in 1979. Agca had escaped from a military prison that same year. “Day of Shame,” Ipekci’s newspaper, Milliyet, headlined yesterday. “The murderer with blood on his hands is returning to our midst,” it said.
Turgut Kazan, a lawyer representing the Ipekci family, said he would appeal Agca’s release to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.
