US California governor Jerry Brown prevented the conditional release of Hambik Sasunyan, who shot the Turkish consul in Los Angeles in 1982 and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

In the meantime, let’s note that in 2016 During the court session held in California on December 14, it was decided to grant the pardon application of Hambik Sasunyan. The decision was to take effect only if ratified by the governor of California.

The Turkish “Habersitesi” news site, referring to the American “SFGate sitesince” news station, states that the governor used the right of veto to prevent the process of Sasunyan’s release.

Many appeals from the Turkish-American associations, as well as the letters personally addressed to the new US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and the US Justice Minister on March 28 to the California governor’s office contributed to preventing the process by the governor.

Earlier, the Turkish Foreign Ministry also responded to the issue of pardoning Sasunyan. The latter’s statement specifically stated: “We justly expect that the US authorities will oppose that decision and prevent Sasunyan’s release.”

Let’s remind thatHambik Sassounyan (born in 1963 in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon), was a member of the secret organization “Fighters of Justice of the Armenian Genocide”. On the morning of January 28, 19-year-old Hambik shot the Turkish consul Kemal Arıkan at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Comstock Street in Los Angeles, when his car was standing at a red light. After his arrest, the US court sentenced him to life imprisonment, without the right to appeal. Hambik Sasunyan is serving his sentence in the San Luis Obispo prison in the USA. Twice, in 2006 and 2010, the US court rejected Sasunyan’s request for pardon.