PAROLE DENIED IN 1982 MURDER OF TURKISH DIPLOMAT IN LOS ANGELES

KESQ, CA
CBS 2, CA
Aug. 31, 2006

LOS ANGELES Parole has been denied for a man convicted in the 1982
murder of a Turkish diplomat in Southern California.

Harry Sassounian’s attorney, Mark Geragos, says he’s optimistic and
doesn’t view today’s decision as a setback, saying it’s rare for
parole to be granted on the first try.

Turkish Consul General Kemal Arikan was killed January 28th, 1982.

Sassounian was 19 at the time. A second gunman was never caught.

A jail informant testified Sassounian told him he killed the diplomat
as revenge for the deaths of about one-point-five (m) million Armenians
at the hands of Turks late in the 19th and early in the 20th century.

A Los Angeles County district attorney’s office spokeswoman says
Sassounian will not be eligible again until 2010.