Man who shot Pope is freed

Istanbul: The man who tried to kill Pope John Paul II nearly 25 years ago was released from a Turkish prison on Thursday.

A gray-haired Mehmet Ali Agca left the prison and got into his lawyer’s car amid a chaotic scene created by international media and about 50 nationalists who consider him a hero.

He was to be taken directly to a military post to see if he is fit for military service, which is required under Turkish law.

One of Agca’s supporters threw flowers onto the car as it drove away.

John Paul II was critically wounded in the May 13, 1981, shooting, which occurred as he rode in an open car across St Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

Agca shot the pope point-blank, striking him in the abdomen, left hand and right arm.

Acga was captured immediately. Doctors were able to save John Paul II’s life largely because Agca’s bullets missed his vital organs.

The pope publicly forgave his would-be assassin three days after the shooting and later met Agca in prison.

Agca served nearly two decades in an Italian prison for the shooting before being pardoned in 2000 by then-Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.

He was then transferred to Turkey to serve time for the 1979 murder of Turkish left-wing newspaper editor Abdi Ipekci and the robbery of an Istanbul factory that year.

Although Agca has served less than five years for Ipekci’s slaying, under Turkish law his time in prison in Italy counted as time served for the murder.

Agca’s release caused outrage among some in Turkey, and one newspaper labeled Thursday ‘the day of Turkey’s shame’.

He has said he will speak about the assassination attempt if he is paid for doing so.

Earlier this week, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the Vatican supports ‘the decisions of the courts involved in this matter’.

In 2002, Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer vetoed an amnesty bill that would have freed Agca from prison.

John Paul II died April 2, 2005, at the age of 84. He was replaced by Pope Benedict XVI.