Ankara, Turkey
Turkey’s Supreme Court has sent the man who tried to kill Pope John Paul II in 1981 back to prison. Mehmet Ali Agca served 19 years in an Italian prison for that crime and was then extradited to Turkey to do time for the 1979 murder of a prominent Turkish journalist. Two weeks ago, a Turkish court freed him, saying that his jail time in Rome counted toward the Turkish crime. But after a huge public outcry, the Supreme Court overturned the ruling and said Agca must stay in prison another four years. The police who rearrested Agca said his eight days on the outside couldn’t have been very pleasant. “Agca gives the impression of being a miserable, helpless man,” police said. “He is not in a rational state of mind.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Thawing permafrost unleashes toxic legacy of miningUnder the Radar Rising temperatures could release huge levels of toxic materials from sealed-off mines into waterways
-
Mission Impossible – The Final Reckoning: an 'awe-inspiringly bananas' conclusionThe Week Recommends Tom Cruise undertakes 'death-defying' stunt set pieces in this 'dazzlingly ambitious' finale
-
Could medics' misgivings spell the end of the assisted dying bill?Today's Big Question The Royal College of Psychiatrists has identified 'serious concerns' with the landmark bill – and MPs are taking notice
