ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) — The gunman who shot Pope John Paul II shouted out his innocence in the 1979 assassination of a Turkish newspaper editor during a court appearance today.
Mehmet Ali Agca has already been convicted and sentenced in absentia for killing the editor, Abdi Ipekci, and begins serving the nine-year, seven-month sentence now that Italy pardoned him for the 1981 attempt to kill the pope and returned him to Turkey.
He was in court today on unrelated charges for a 1979 armed robbery of a soda factory and the theft of a getaway car.
"I am not Ipekci's murderer," Agca shouted in court. "This is a fairy tale and I was an actor in the scenario."
"With Ipekci's death, all the secrets were lost," Agca, wearing a blue shirt, jeans and tennis shoes, told the court.
Many in Turkey believe Ipekci, a liberal newspaper editor, may have been silenced by gangs linked to the state and that the same gangs helped Agca escape from prison while he was on trial for the Ipekci killing.
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit welcomed Agca's extradition as an opportunity to shed light on the mystery surrounding Ipekci's assassination.
Ipekci had been investigating Turkish criminal gangs and writing critical columns on the nationalists when he was killed at close range while driving on a busy Istanbul street.
The court appearance could be the first of many for Agca, who is implicated in at least two other crimes committed in Turkey before the 1981 assassination attempt on the pope.
The crimes include the killing of a left-wing student and the armed robbery of a jewelry shop. Under an extradition agreement, Turkey is required to obtain Italy's permission to prosecute him on these charges.
Turkey has Italy's permission to go ahead with court proceedings over the soft drink factory robbery. Agca could face an additional maximum 9 1/2 years in prison if convicted.
Italy pardoned Agca earlier this week after he served almost 20 years in prison for the attempted assassination of John Paul in St. Peter's Square.
Agca is now in solitary confinement in Istanbul's Kartal maximum security prison.
Agca at first said that he acted alone in shooting the pope, but later said that the Bulgarian secret service and the KGB were behind the attack.
Similarly, Agca confessed to killing Ipekci but later retracted his statements.
A Turkish court sentenced Agca to death in absentia but an amnesty reduced the sentence to 10 years in prison. He is currently serving 10 years minus the 158 days he was imprisoned before escaping from prison.