Share :

Download PDF :

TASC, USAN and TADA (13 March 2021)

TASC, USAN, and TADA Express Grave Concern at CA Governor Gavin Newsom’s Announcement to Release a Terrorist

Urge Federal Government to Arrest and Prosecute Sassounian

Hampig Sassounian - Armenian Justice Commandos Assassin
 

The Turkish American National Steering Committee (TASC), US Azerbaijanis Network (USAN), and Turkish American Anti-Defamation Alliance (TADA) express grave concern at the recent announcement of California Governor Gavin Newsom not to appeal the erroneous decision of a Los Angeles Superior Court to release JCAG terrorist Hampig Sassounian. Turkish American associations nationwide urge the federal government to arrest and prosecute Sassounian under 18 USC 1116, as the release of Sassounian nears:

• 18 U.S. Code § 1116 - Murder or manslaughter of foreign officials, official guests, or internationally protected persons
• https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1116

Since Governor Newsom's announcement, families of more than 40 Turkish diplomats assassinated by Armenian terrorists, have been receiving crude threats at www.StopTerroristParole.org, the latest being, “Hampig or Recognize 1915” and “F__You People.” 

• Sassounian is serving a life sentence for the assassination of Turkish Consul General Kemal Arikan in 1982. He admitted to ambushing and assassinating Mr. Arikan at a traffic light after planning the assassination for weeks. Immediately after the assassination, the "Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide” (JCAG) claimed responsibility for the killing. At his parole hearings, Sassounian implausibly denied even hearing of JCAG, though he had been recruited from an Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) camps, where he received training.
• In December 2019, two commissioners of the California Parole Board granted Sassounian parole. In May 2020, Governor Newsom reversed the Parole Board, concluding that Sassounian posed a continuing safety risk to society, and determining that Sassounian had not reformed and that he lacked insight into his crime. Newsom relied on the report of the San Quentin Prison psychiatrist and statements made by Sassounian in a militant Armenian magazine.
• In August 2020, Sassounian challenged Newsom before a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, who in February 2021 decided to release Sassounian, holding that Newsom’s decision was "arbitrary and capricious”, and that Newsom had offered no evidence that Sassounian posed a risk on society.

Throughout, the California Parole Board deliberately did not inform the victims, the Arikan Family, and the Republic of Turkey, regarding the parole process, effectively ambushing the people of Turkey and victims of terrorism globally. Nor did California keep the federal government informed, though required by law.

Mr. Arikan was among four Turkish diplomats assassinated on American soil, in addition to Los Angeles Consul General Mehmet Baydar, Los Angeles Vice Consul Bahadir Demir, and Boston Honorary Consul Orhan Gunduz.

Turkish American national groups including ATAA in 2006, 2010, and 2013, and TASC in 2017, 2018, and 2019, submitted victims' impact statements at the parole hearings, enduring death threats from extremists elements in the Armenian community of California.