ACQUITTALS LIKELY IN PAPAL SHOOTING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505100017-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 23, 2010
• Sequence Number: 17
• Publication Date: January 20, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/23: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505100017-4
ON F?'t wASriINGTOiv TIiiES
z0 January i98o
Acquittals likely
in papal shooting
By Andrew Borowiec
THE WASHINGTON TIMES FOREIGN SERVICE
ROME - The trial of what has
become known as the "Bulgarian
Connection" in the 1981 shooting of
Pope John Paul II appears heading
for acquittal due to insufficient evi-
dence.
The prosecution will sum up its
case against three Bulgarians and
three Turks after a recess that ends
Feb. 4. Diplomatic obsec ra say it
is so thin it will never result in indict-
ments.
The Italians have relied almost en-
tirely on the testimony of Turkish
gunman Mehmet Ali Agca, who is
serving a life sentence for the
shooting of the pontiff. In court he
was erratic, often bordering on ap-
parent madness.
The case was further obscured by
a concerted Bulgarian effort to dis-
credit the indictment as politically
motivated by the West.
Tb most Western diplomats here,
the aftermath of the pope's shooting
on May 13,1981, in Rome's Saint Pe-
ter's Square was stage-managed by
the "Fifth Directorate" of the Soviet,.,
KGB dealing mainly with disin
oration. . "' 0
Soviet interest in the Pope's death'
was obvious tQmaiay: He had helped
galvanize the defiant Poles around.
the subsequently banned Solidarity
labor movement. With John Paul II
ensconced in the Vatican, religion in
Poland received an enormous boost
as an act of political opposition.
Two of the three Bulgarians on
trial claimed diplomatic immunity
and are safe in Sofia. The third,
Sergei Antonov - under house ar-
rest since 1982 due to poor health -
testified in a robot-like manner, leav-
ing no strong impression and giving
nothing away.
Agca changed his testimony radi-
cally several times. At first he
claimed he acted alone, then spoke
of his recruitment by Bulgaria, a So-
viet client state in the Balkans and
said to be one of the main conduits
for guns and drugs used to destabi-
lize the Western world.
NEWS ANAL SIS
Recently, Agca simply refused to
cooperate with the prosecution, thus
virtually destroying its. case.
Reliable sources said that coded
messages had been delivered to
Agca in his prison and that he was
allowed contact with various visi-
tors. The authorities claim they have
no knowledge of this.
There is also a book, "La Fililere"
(The Connection) written by French
lawyer Christian Roulette that
claims the "Bulgarian Connection"
is a myth concocted by the Central
Intelligence Agency with the Italian
security services.
Mr. Roulette's own testimony in
Rome was athettc: He was unable e
to con irm a single allegation nor
p ove t} the existence of -secret doc-
uments about the alleged A in-
vo vement.
Teal, which opened last May,
was marked by two key elements:
? No light has been shed on Agca's
presence in Bulgaria, where he re-
portedly was recruited to shoot the
Polish-born pope.
? Agca's testimony - according to
credible sources - was clearly ma-
nipulated from outside to shatter the
prosecution's case.
Bulgarian counter-arguments'are
based on the claim that Agca was a
"madman,' that he had no common
language with the Bulgarians he was
alleged to have worked with, and, fi-
nally, that he was not a "socialist" but
a fugitive member ofa banned Turk-
ish right-wing extremist organ-
ization, the "Grey Wolf Comman-
dos:'
Some observers felt that Agca's
alleged "madness" was carefully
controlled if not staged.
The Italian investigating magis-
trates have traveled to Bulgaria,
West Germany, Switzerland, the
Netherlands and Turkey in search of
evidence. But nothing conclusive
has been gathered.
Thus, what the Italian press has
dubbed as "The Thial of the Century"
because of its potential impact on
East-West relations, appears to be a
legal and political fiasco.
The case was further obscured by
the mysterious death in a Turkish jail
last summer of Turkish citizen Bekir
Celenk. Once described as a key fig-
ure in the plot to kill the pope, Celenk
stayed under house arrest in Bul-
garia until last July, when he was
suddenly handed over to the Turkish
authorities.
He admitted, before a Turkish tri-
bunal, participating in gun-running
and dope smuggling under the ap-
parent auspices of the Bulgarian
trading company, Kintex, regarded
as a branch of Bulgaria's intelli-
gence service. But Turkey refused to
extradite him to Italy.
Another mysterious figure is held
in a New York jail awaiting extradi-
tion to Italy on charges of espionage.
He is Francesco Pazienza, once an
agent of the Italian secret service
SISMI, who claims to have informa-
tion about the plot to kill the pope.
The court rejected a demand by
prosecutor Antonio Marini to ques-
tion Pazienza. Equally, the court dis-
allowed a request for further psychi-
atric examination of Agca, who was
declared fit to stand trial after on
interview with a psychiatrist in 1981.
Agca's outbursts - including the
claim that he was "Jesus Christ" -
helped enormously the Bulgarian
efforts to discredit the case. Bulgar-
ia's concern was obvious from the
beginning. An intricate propaganda
machine was set in motion to deny
any complicity in the plot.
The Bulgarians did ever thi to
ortra estern intelli ence ser-
vices - particularly the CIA - as
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/23: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505100017-4