Catholic Bishop Luigi Padovese was stabbed to death in June 2010 in southern Turkey.
His killer was just given a gift.
A Turkish Islamist was given a reduced sentence for murdering Bishop Luigi Padovese in Iskenderun. The court claims the bishop offered a gay affair with the killer – so they understand why he would kill him.
Today’s Zaman reported, via Frontpage:
A court reduced the sentence of a man who killed a Roman Catholic bishop in the Mediterranean port of İskenderun in southern Turkey in 2010 on the grounds that he was offered a homosexual affair by the bishop.
Altun was standing trial at the İskenderun 2nd High Criminal Court and facing a life sentence. Concluding the case on Tuesday, the court handed down a 15-year prison sentence to Altun instead of a life sentence because Altun claimed that the bishop had asked him to have an homosexual affair. Altun received a reduced sentence due to unjustifiable provocation.
The prosecutor said although there is no evidence showing that the bishop offered such a relationship, the suspect still has the right to benefit from unjustifiable provocation.
The court had in fact handed down a reduced sentence of 18 years to Altun but his sentence was reduced further to 15 years for good conduct during the trial.
Archbishop Luigi Padovese, the president of the Bishops’ Conference of Turkey, invited Christians to make a pilgrimage to Tarsus, the birthplace of St. Paul, as part of their celebrations for the Pauline year in 2008.