Ankara criticized the decision of the Los Angeles court on the early  release from prison of "ASALA" fighter Hampig Sassunyan

ArmInfo. The Los Angeles Supreme Court approved the parole of the "ASALA" fighter Hampig Sassunyan, who killed the Turkish Consul General in Los Angeles Kemal  Arykan in 1982, and was sentenced to life imprisonment for this.

This verdict of the American court caused an angry reaction from  Ankara. The Turkish Foreign Ministry issued a statement in which it  criticized the actions of the American side.

The Los Angeles County Supreme Court ruled to release Hampig  Sassunyan, who killed Turkish Consul General Kemal Arykan, while  California Governor Gavin Newsom said he would not appeal the  decision. We strongly condemn this approach, which deeply hurts the  honor of the Turkish nation, ”the Turkish Foreign Ministry noted,  noting that the decision was not revised, despite all the attempts of  the US administration to prevent it. Ankara assures that this  decision is incompatible with either the universal principles of law  or the understanding of justice.

Hampig Sassounian was a member of the Armenian Youth Federation and  the Armenian organization Fighters for Justice Against the Armenian  Genocide (JCAG).

Between 1973 and 1986, justice fighters killed 31 Turkish diplomats  around the world. The killings took place in the United States,  Austria, France, Italy, Spain, Lebanon, Greece, Switzerland, the  Netherlands, Canada, Portugal, Iran and the United Kingdom.

Note that Hampig Sassunyan was a member of the JCAG organization,  which is an ally of ASALA. In 1982, the Turkish special services  killed the leader of the JCAG, Abraham Aschyan, and after that  nothing is known about the activities of the JCAG, perhaps the  organization took a new name - "Armenian Revolutionary Army".

Humpig Sassounian, sentenced to life imprisonment without the right  to appeal, was held in San Quentin Prison in California. Under  California law, prisoners who have spent more than 25 years in prison  are eligible for parole. Since October 2007, Sassunyan has repeatedly  tried to exercise this right. But, due to the efforts of the Turkish  Foreign Ministry in 2006, 2010, 2013 and 2015, the American court  rejected all the petitions of the terrorist. On December 14, 2016,  Sassunyan's petition for parole was granted by the court, after which  Ankara turned to the Court of Appeal. As a result, California  Governor Jerry Brown annulled the decision of the first instance  court in the Sassunyan case on May 12, 2017.