8 ACCUSED OF PLOT ON POPE'S LIFE WILL GO ON TRIAL IN ROME TODAY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000706480008-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 20, 2011
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: May 27, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/20 :CIA-RDP90-009658000706480008-2
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8 ~ccusea~ of Plot on Pope's ~,ife
mill ~o on Trial in Rome Today
NEW YORY. TIMES
~, ~ ~
~?p.y~ .`F ~~~` 27 May 1985
4 ~ n ~ ~ t.
r~
_ -
ia. drugs and close attention will be paid to
Bulgarian Under House Arrest I his behavior during the trial. -
the shooting, claimed to have acted revert him m con-
alone. He later changed Iris testirnon}', ~rct' "an active de arise.
contending that the assassination at- I He would 'o y try to reply w the
tempt was a result of an international ,court's questions," she said.
plot, masterminded by the Bulgarian while under house arrest, Mr. Auto-
diplomats, in which he received the nov has beau constantly accompanied
equivalent of 51.2 million from aTurk- by Bulgarian Embassy officials. Some
ish underworld f}sure living in Bulgur- ,Italian officials have expressed con-
: cerr- that he is under the influence of
n
weekly general audience_u ence
,,,~,, ~~ mat was escn as van oea entra_
tton m July 1981 of having
ously wounded the Pope during ? his At a Bul~aria_*+-a*~t?ed news confer-
Rome last week at wluch the
i
is now Z7 years old, is serving a life sen- ' ~ transfer to house arrest after Mr.
tence in a R Mme prison after his convict Antonov began suffering intense head-
ihotend sari- aches and gastric problems in prison.
The witness, Mehmet Ali Agca, who Italian medical experts peratitted
The following article is based on reporting by Claire Sterling and John Ta-
g[iabue and was written by Mr. Zagiiabue.
- ~ Spe~iel to Tlrc New' York Times - -
ROME, May 26 - A major court- i focus on SerAei Ivanov Antonov, 37, the
room trial that could throw light on ob- former Rome station chref of the Bul-
i score links of international terrorism garian state airline, Balkanair, and the
begins here Monday when five Turks only one of the accused Bulgarians in
i and three Bulgarians face charges they ;Italian custody.
took part in a plot to assassinate Pope Mr. Agcy told investigators, in some-
John Paul II. times contradictory testimony, that the
The trial has special significance be- Bulgarian h~P~ plan the plot and
cause two Bulgarian diplomats and an drove him and a second Turkish gun-
official .of the Bulgarian state airline man to St..Peter's Square on the day of
the shooting.
are among the accused. According to ~ Antono~, aaz arrested in Rome
the state's key witness, they were part ~-~-~r--~gy~ following Mr. Agca's
of the reported conspiracy that led to testimony. Ae was transferred from
the attempt on the Pope's life in St. Rebibbia Prison here to house arrest in
Peter's Square on May 13, 1981, and a specially protected apartment last
Malian justice officials say circumstan- June because of failing health,
tial evidence supports the charge. Trial Called C.I.A. Plot
Only four of the eight defendants will
be present at the trial, which is ex-
pected tolast several months' It will be
held in a specially constructed ~u~h-se-
curiry courtroom, dubbed the Trial
Bunker, that was converted from a for-
mer gymnasium at a sports complex
near the Olympic Stadium in Rome.
The cottrtroom has previously been
'used for trials of members of Italy's
Red Brigades terrorist bands, includ-
ing the men convicted of the kidnap-
ping and slaying of Aldo Moro, the Ital-
tan political leader, in 1978. ?
In addition to Mr. Agra, who faces
charges of smuggling into Italy the
9-millimeter Br?ownirtg pistol he.used in
the shooting, attention at the trial will
with firm Bulgarian Government
backing, Mr. Antonav has denied any
irrvolvement, and his lawyers say they
will produce witnesses to prove that he
was in his office at the time of the
former deputy military attache at the
Bulgarian Embassy, who together with
Mr. Aivazov leh Maly in 198'L and is now
in Solis, the Bulgarian capital, also ac-
cused of complicity.
9Bekir Celenk, 50, a Turkish racket-
eer naw living in Sofia, whom is
charged with procuring the 51.2 million
used to finance the plot and. with mas-
terminding it on behalf of ''unidentified
instigators..,
gOrsl Celik, 25, a Turk accused of?
being a backup gunman in St. Peter's
Square. Mr. Celik is at large, but has
reportedly been sem in France in re- I
Dear months.
The Bulgarian Government has
refused official Italian requests for ex-
tradinon to Italy of the three defend-
ants in Sofia. But Italian court officials
have said that the court, which consists
of two magistrates, including Chief
Judge Severino Santiapichi, and six lay
judges, or jurors, aught apply to travel
to Bulgaria to hear the four as wit-
nesses.
Virtually the only uncontested item
in the 1.293-page writ of indictment is
the fact that Mr. Agca, who was sen-
~ tenced to death by a Turkish court ir.
1979 for the murder of a T urkish news-
'~ paper editor, shot and wounded the
Pope in May 1981.
But conviction hinges on whether the
court is convinced by the testimony of
Na. Agca and what Italian justice offi-
cials say is a wealth of circumstantial
evidence. If convicted, the defendants
in Italian custody face lengthy jail sen-
tences.
"It is not neces$ary to produce a
smoking gun," said Virginio Rognoni,
who, as Interior Minister at the time of
the Pope's shooting, was in charge of
-
auc vu+ca ~,w.......... ----
These are the other defendants in convtction on .the basis of circum- i
. etnnrac ~~ I
90mer Bagci, 39, a Turk arrested in
Switzerland and extradited to Italy. He
is charged with delivering the weapon
to Mr. Agra in Milan four days before
the shooting. .
gMusa Serdaz Celebi, 33, the head of
s right wing Turkish organization in
west Germany, accused of aiding Mr.
Agcy in the plot by assuring him places
to stay and channeling lazge sums of
money to him. _ _ , _ -_.,
gTodor Stoyanov Atvazov, 40, a Bul- cruise misstle~ on ur sotl.
garian diplomat and former cashier at I
the Bulgarian Embassy in kome, who
is accused of supporting the Plot.
Improved Relations Sought
The trial is particularly sensitive for
the Italian Government because of the
implication that the Bulgarian Govern-
ment, with the possible collusion of the
Soviet Union, was responsible for the
purported plot against the Polish=vorn
Pope.
Italy has sought to improve its rela-
tionswith the Moscow and its East bloc
allies, including Bulgaria, which
soured after Rome decided to station
be tried in absentia, are: j new United States nuclear-tipped
~pfitltlil~d
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/20 :CIA-RDP90-009658000706480008-2