CONCERNS OVER THE POPE’S VISIT TO TURKEY AFTER FATHER SANTORO’S MURDERER IS SENTENCED

AsiaNews.it, Italy
Oct 11 2006

The speedy trial left many grey areas uncovered: eyewitnesses not
called to testify; instigators not investigated. The culprit’s mother
praises the murder calling it "a gift to the state and the nation".

Nationalist-Islamist groups might create problems during the Pope’s
upcoming visit.

Rome (AsiaNews) – The sentence imposed on O.A., the 16-year-old
teenager found guilty of killing Italian priest Fr Andrea Santoro as
he was praying in St Mary’s Church in Trabzon, leaves many questions
unanswered. Whilst the boy’s mother might still defend him saying
"he did the deed in the name of Allah", Mgr Luigi Padovese, apostolic
vicar to Anatolia, views it with some concerns as it might impact
the Pope’s imminent visit to Turkey.

"It is terrible," he told AsiaNews, "that during the trial neither
the boy nor the mother showed any remorse about the murder. In fact
they almost said they would do it again . . . . And if the press
continues to show understanding for this attitude . . . there could
be difficulties" from nationalist-Islamist quarters.

After the announcement of the verdict was postponed nine times for lack
of a unanimous agreement, the court in Trabzon yesterday imposed an
18 year and 10 month prison term, but it is very likely though that
given the boy’s age and other factors, he will spend only seven or
eight years behind bars.

This brings to an end what for the Turkish government was an
embarrassment vis-a-vis Europe.

Never the less, many people are still left with doubts, pondering
over the trial’s haste and the failure to consider certain important
elements.

For instance, O.A. may be guilty in the court’s eyes, Loredana P.,
an Italian eyewitness who was in the church at the time of the murder
(she had come to Trabzon to work as a volunteer at St Mary’s parish),
is unwavering in saying that the hand and arm she saw shooting at the
priest could not be that of the boy. But she was not even heard at
the trial, which was held in camera without any representative from
either the Church or Italy.

Another element in the case that was not fully investigated was the
gun the boy allegedly used in shooting the priest, a type of gun that
was also used in the May killing of High Court Judge Mustafa Yucel
Ozbilgin, one that is quite expensive. This fact raises an important
question. How could O.A. get a hold of such a gun? And if it belonged
to his father, how could the latter get it since he is not rich?

Similarly, the court failed to look into the boy’s background, the
environment in which he was born and raised.

At the end the trial O.A.’s mother was asked what she felt. Her answer
sounds like an apology for murder. "Had he been put in jailed for
breaking the law or not respecting state rules, it would have been
a shame for us, a curse, but he is being punished for deed committed
in the name of Allah. For this reason I have nothing to say. I have
faith in man’s and God’s justice."

During the trial she always defended her son without showing any
remorse. Instead, she said her son’s deed "was a gift to the state
and the nation," that her condemned son "is a victim for Allah."

Yesterday, she went as far as comparing him to Ali Agca, the would-be
murderer of Pope John Paul II and told her son to shout "Allah Akhbar",
Allah is great.

O.A.’s brother also defended him and said that the fault lies with
Western provocations, their "attack against the nation". He accused
the West and the "American dogs" of causing all evils.

"It is clear," said Mgr Padovese, "that the background that made
Santoro’s murder possible is nationalist-Islamist. That milieu
is scary because it embodies the soul of some segments of Turkish
society, increasingly inflexible, justifying violence. It is terrible
that throughout the trial mother and son showed no remorse for the
murder. In fact they almost said they would do it again."

Pope Benedict XVI is scheduled to visit Turkey in late November. "I
hope," said the apostolic vicar, "that this [the trial] will have no
repercussions on the Holy Father’s visit to Turkey."

"The local press has given little coverage to the trial and the
sentence imposed on Father Santoro’s murderer," he noted. "They are
more concerned with censuring France which is trying to acknowledge
the Armenian genocide."

"If the press keeps up this attitude of defending the murderer’s deed
and accusing the Church, the sentence might have some influence on
the Pope’s visit," he added.

"Fr Andrea Santoro was falsely accused of proselytising, of buying
conversions and forcing young Muslims to adopt the Christian faith.

If the press pursues this line, there might be difficulties, not so
much from the government but from nationalist-Islamist groups."