TEEN THREATENS MASSACRE BUT IS RELEASED
Ýsmaýl Akduman
Turkish Daily News, Turkey
Jan 9 2008
The teenager who threatens to kill a pastor and massacre the
congregation is released pending trial
A teenage boy who had threatened a Protestant pastor in the city of
Samsun and had reportedly asked his friend to watch out for him on
TV because he would massacre the congregation was caught a day before
the alleged attack and has been released pending trial.
The 17-year-old from Ordu on the Black Sea coast reportedly phoned
and threatened 37-year-old Mehmet Orhan Pýcaklar, a pastor at the
Agape Hause Church, last week and told a friend of his that he would
carry out a massacre at the church, asking him to keep an eye on TV
last Sunday.
The teenager was taken into custody Saturday. He just wanted to scare
the pastor and had been influenced by no one, he told the court.
The teenager called the pastor three times on Dec. 29-30, 2007, telling
him he would die. The teenager was arrested on Jan. 5 and the police
subsequently seized a laptop, many CDs and a gun with blank cartridge,
according to reports.
The suspect told the court that he had found the church on the
Internet: "I saw the church on the Internet and called the number on
the Web site, telling the person who answered the phone that he would
die. When the person who answered said everyone would die one day,
I hung up the phone. I also called the Catholic Church in Trabzon,
but hung up when a woman answered."
The teenager said he did not know where the church was located and
maintained that he only aimed at intimidating the pastor.
The court rejected the request for the arrest of the suspect because
of his age, the crime and the penalty that it entails. It has, however,
banned him from traveling overseas.
"Will he be arrested after I am dead? These kids are influenced by
shows on television and local leaders and decide to go forward with
such attacks. They want to be famous. What I am angry about is the
fact that the boy admitted it but was still released. From now on, I
won’t lodge complaints about threats." Pýcaklar said as he criticised
the court decision.
Pýcaklar, who has worked as pastor at the Agape Hause Church
Association since 2003, said they have been attacked from time to
time and their building’s windows were smashed last year. "After this
attack, the police are keeping a 24-hour watch on our premises."
Pýcaklar said he and the church were being targeted at certain Web
sites, adding that he didn’t understand how the court could release
the suspect because of his age when teenagers of that age were the
main culprits of attacks against churches and priests.
The Black Sea region has been making headlines during the past
two years mainly for being the scene of crimes committed against
Christians. A teenager and his associates suspected of shooting
Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrank Dink on Jan. 19, 2007 are all
from Trabzon.
On Feb. 5, 2006, another teenager shot and killed Catholic Priest
Andrea Santoro of the Santa Maria Church in Trabzon.
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