Harry M. Sassounian is currently serving a life sentence for the 1982 assassination of Turkish Consul General Kemal Arikan.
The jury determined that Sassounian, an Armenian immigrant formerly of Pasadena, California, member of Armenian Youth Federation and Justice Commandos Against Armenian Genocide, shot Arikan to death, on January 28, 1982 at 9:40am, and particularly that he singled out the victim because of the victim's nationality.[1] Arikan was gunned down in his car by two gunmen while waiting at a red light on the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Comstock Street in the Westwood area of Los Angeles. President Ronald Reagan condemned the murder as "an apparent act of terrorism".[2]
Sassounian, hailing from a family of Lebanese Armenian emigres, was identified by witnesses as one of the two gunmen. During the trial, the prosecutors indicated that Sassounian "was motivated to kill Arikan by vengeance for the Ottoman Empire’s genocide of an estimated million Armenians between 1915 and 1923." Sassounian was sentenced to life in prison; because the jury determined that the killing targeted Arikan based on his nationality, Sassounian was given no chance of parole.[3]
In 2002, prosecutors agreed to drop the so-called "national origin" special circumstance of the case, making Sassounian eligible for parole, in exchange for his admitting his guilt and formally apologizing.[4] “I participated in the murder of Kemal Arikan,” Sassounian read aloud from a letter detailing the plea bargain. “I renounce the use of terrorist tactics to achieve political goals. I regret the suffering of the Arikan family.”[5]
The California Prison Parole Board rejected Sassounian's demands of release in 2006 and 2010.[6]
Since 1982, AYF and Armenian Revolutionary Federation support Sassounian as a “martyr”, a “hero” who should be released; his justice costs are paid by ARF, after specifical collects.[7]