| Turkish court refuses to release pope’s would-be assassin from jail |
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9 novembre 2004
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ISTANBUL, (AFP) - A Turkish court on Monday rejected a request by Mehmet Ali Agca — the Turk who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981 — for his early release from jail in light of recent legal amendments, one of his lawyers’ said.
Attorney Dogan Yildirim told reporters outside the court here that he had asked the judges to set his client free, citing sentence reductions foreseen for some crimes under a major overhaul in September of the country’s penal code.
But the court turned down the demand, Yildirim said.
Following his extradition from Italy in June 2000, Agca was sentenced to seven years and four months for armed robbery committed in the late 1970s, for which he is now serving time in an Istanbul jail.
His lawyers were arguing that he was eligible for early release as the new penal code, enacted to boost Turkey’s bid for European Union membership, cuts down almost by half sentences for robbery.
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