KGB link to JPII shooter: Institute of National Remembrance
PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea
13.05.2016 14:41
The man who shot Polish Pope John Paul II in 1981 was probably inspired by the KGB, said the chief prosecutor of the Institute National Remembrance (IPN).
The location on the attempt of JPII's life in 1981. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Friday marks 35 years since the assassination attempt of JPII in St Peter’s Square when Turkish national Mehmet Ali Ağca tried to assassinate the Polish-born pope.
“In attempting the murder of Pope John Paul II, Ali Agca had the support of the communist secret services [the KGB - ed.]. He did not act alone – this is the most important, and without a shadow of a doubt, part of our investigation,” IPN chief prosecutor Michał Skwara told the PAP news agency.
“It is an established fact, and in a way that can be proven […] that in preparing and carrying out the assassination attempt on the Polish Pope, Bulgarian intelligence officers took part [in the operation], and used a person from the Turkish criminal world to do this.”
Ali Agca was finally released from prison in January 2010, after serving 19 years in Italy and a further ten in Turkey for the attempted murder.
No theory has been conclusively proved on who was behind the assassination attempt. (rg)