Turkish court orders Pope gunman back to prison News
Turkish court orders Pope gunman back to prison

[JURIST] A Turkish appeals court on Friday ordered Mehmet Ali Agca [Wikipedia profile], the man who shot Pope John Paul II [official website] in 1981, to return to prison and Agca was subsequently taken into custody in Istanbul. Agca was serving a 36-year sentence for murdering Turkish journalist Abdi Ipekci [profile] when he escaped from prison and shot the Pope in 1981. He then served 19 years of a life sentence in Italy for shooting the pontiff before being pardoned at the Pope's behest [CNN report] in 2000 and was extradited back to Turkey to complete his sentence. Agca was released on parole [JURIST report] earlier this month for good behavior, but Turkish Justice Minister Cemil Cicek asked the court [JURIST report] to return Agca to prison, arguing that time served in Italy should not be deducted from his sentence. The Turkish Supreme Court of Appeals of Criminal Department overturned the decision to release the would-be assassin, stating there was "no legal basis" to deduct Agca's time served in Italy. It is unknown how long Agca will remain in jail in Turkey, as he may face charges for robbing a factory and commandeering a vehicle in 1979 in addition to his remaining murder sentence. AP has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase…

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN General Assembly approves Palestine partition plan

The UN General Assembly approved UN Resolution Resolution 181 (II) on November 29, 1947, recommending that the British Mandate for Palestine be split into a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an international zone for Jerusalem. The vote in the assembly was 33 for to 13 against, with 10 abstentions. The resolution sparked a war between Palestinian Arabs and Jews in 1947 and a wider war after Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon invaded the new State of Israel in 1948. Read Resolution 181 (II).

UN divided Palestine between Arabs and Jews

On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab territories, leading to the establishment of a Jewish state the following year. Read UN General Assembly Resolution 181.

Defense Secretary Robert McNamara resigns during Vietnam Conflict

On November 29, 1967, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced that he was resigning from his office to accept an appointment as head of the World Bank. The announcement came as the Vietnam Conflict was becoming increasingly unpopular in the United States and abroad.