Turkish youth sentenced to jail for stabbing Italian Catholic priest

A court in the Aegean port city of Izmir in western Turkey found 19-year-old Ramazan Bay guilty of stabbing and wounding a 65-year-old Italian priest, Adriano Franchini.

 

In the December 2007 attack, Bay stabbed Franchini in the abdomen after attending Sunday mass at Saint Anthony’s Church in Izmir. Â

 

He surrendered himself to police shortly after the attack. Father Francini did not sustain life-threatening injuries.

 

Bay, who was not present in the courtroom, was also sentenced and fined 375 YTL ($248) for carrying a switchblade.

 

Earlier this year, Bay told the court that he had carried out the attack because he was angry about Christian missionary activities in Turkey and said he had acted on his own.

 

Christians make up less than 1 percent of Turkey's population of around 70 million.