Pope John Paul II shooter may face new charges after prison release News
Pope John Paul II shooter may face new charges after prison release

[JURIST] Mehmet Ali Agca [Wikipedia profile], the man who shot Pope John Paul II [official website; JURIST news archive] in 1981, may face new charges in Turkey of draft dodging and escaping military custody after he is released from prison on Thursday [JURIST report], an official said Monday. Agca shot the Pope after escaping from a Turkish military prison in 1979, where he was serving a 36-year sentence for the murder of Turkish journalist Abdi Ipekci. In 2000, after serving a 20-year sentence in Italy for shooting the Pope, Agca was transferred to a Turkish prison in 2000 to serve additional time [BBC report] for Ipekci's murder. AP has more.