PodcastKiller of Turkish diplomat released on parole in US
Killer of Turkey's then-Los Angeles Consulate General Kemal Arıkan was released on parole, prompting criticism from Ankara. "Hampig Sassounian has regrettably been approved for release on parole on Dec. 27, 2019 in a trial in California," a statement released by the Foreign Ministry read. Sassounian gunned down Arıkan at a red light in Los Angeles in 1982 - an act that was deemed as terrorism by President Reagan.
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Hampig Sassounian, killer of then-Los Angeles Consulate General Kemal Arıkan, has been approved for release on parole.
"Hampig Sassounian who killed our Los Angeles Consul General Kemal Arıkan on Jan. 28, 1982, despite all of our efforts, has regrettably been approved for release on parole on Dec. 27, 2019 in a trial in California," read a statement by Turkey's Foreign Ministry.
The ruling is up for approval by the Governor of California and can still be appealed, the statement added.
Sassounian gunned down then-Consul General Arıkan at a red light in Los Angeles and President Ronald Reagan called the act "an apparent act of terrorism."
It was determined by the court that Sassounian, hailing from Lebanese Armenian origins, had targeted Arıkan because of his nationality, as he saw Arıkan's shooting to be way of vengeance for the Armenian Genocide.
Sassounian was approved for parole by the court in 2016, but was vetoed by Jerry Brown, then the Governor of California.