The Turkish man who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981 will be released on parole on Thursday, his lawyer has said.
The then Pope John Paul II meets with his would-be assassin, Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca, in a cell of Rome's Rebibbia prison in 1983.
A Turkish court last week decided to free Mehmet Ali Agca "on parole on January 12," according to his lawyer, Mustafa Demirbag.
"We were hiding the decision, but it is not a secret anymore," Mr Demirbag said. "He was eligible to be released on parole because he had no disciplinary problems."
Earlier, the Anatolia news agency said a Turkish court had approved the release of Agca (47), who was extradited to Turkey in 2000 after serving almost 20 years in prison in Italy for shooting and wounding the Pope in St Peter's Square in Rome.
John Paul II met with in Italy's Rebibbia prison in 1983 and forgave him for the shooting. The motive for the attack remains unclear.
Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the Vatican would defer to the judgment of the Turkish tribunal.
Mr Demirbag said Agca was sentenced to life in prison, which amounts to 36 years under Turkish law, for murdering Turkish journalist Abdi Ipekci in 1979.
He served less than six months in a Turkish prison in 1979 for killing the journalist before he escaped, resurfacing in 1981 in Rome; an amnesty in 1991 deducted 10 more years from his time.
The court last week further deducted his 20 years in prison in Italy based on a new article in the penal code, which was amended by the Turkish government recently at the request of the European Union to raise the standard of human rights.
The Anatolia news agency suggested that Agca, a draft-dodger, might be taken to a military station following his release and to a military hospital later in Istanbul for medical checks, a routine procedure.
However, it was not clear if he will be enlisted in the army, which generally accepts conscripts until 41.
Agca reportedly sympathised with the Gray Wolves, a far right-wing militant group that fought street battles against leftists in the 1970s. He initially confessed to killing one of the country's most prominent left-wing newspaper columnists but later retracted his statements.
AP