Rome (AsiaNews) – The sentence imposed on O.A., the 16-year-old teenager found guilty of killing Italian priest Fr Andrea Santoro as he was praying in St Mary's Church in Trabzon, leaves many questions unanswered. Whilst the boy's mother might still defend him saying "he did the deed in the name of Allah", Mgr Luigi Padovese, apostolic vicar to Anatolia, views it with some concerns as it might impact the Pope's imminent visit to Turkey.

"It is terrible," he told AsiaNews, "that during the trial neither the boy nor the mother showed any remorse about the murder. In fact they almost said they would do it again . . . . And if the press continues to show understanding for this attitude . . . there could be difficulties" from nationalist-Islamist quarters.

After the announcement of the verdict was postponed nine times for lack of a unanimous agreement, the court in Trabzon yesterday imposed an 18 year and 10 month prison term, but it is very likely though that given the boy's age and other factors, he will spend only seven or eight years behind bars.

This brings to an end what for the Turkish government was an embarrassment vis-à-vis Europe.

Never the less, many people are still left with doubts, pondering over the trial's haste and the failure to consider certain important elements.

For instance, O.A. may be guilty in the court's eyes, Loredana P., an Italian eyewitness who was in the church at the time of the murder (she had come to Trabzon to work as a volunteer at St Mary's parish), is unwavering in saying that the hand and arm she saw shooting at the priest could not be that of the boy. But she was not even heard at the trial, which was held in camera without any representative from either the Church or Italy.

Another element in the case that was not fully investigated was the gun the boy allegedly used in shooting the priest, a type of gun that was also used in the May killing of High Court Judge Mustafa Yucel Ozbilgin, one that is quite expensive. This fact raises an important question. How could O.A. get a hold of such a gun? And if it belonged to his father, how could the latter get it since he is not rich?

Similarly, the court failed to look into the boy's background, the environment in which he was born and raised.

At the end the trial O.A.'s mother was asked what she felt. Her answer sounds like an apology for murder. "Had he been put in jailed for breaking the law or not respecting state rules, it would have been a shame for us, a curse, but he is being punished for deed committed in the name of Allah. For this reason I have nothing to say. I have faith in man's and God's justice."

During the trial she always defended her son without showing any remorse. Instead, she said her son's deed "was a gift to the state and the nation," that her condemned son "is a victim for Allah." Yesterday, she went as far as comparing him to Ali Agca, the would-be murderer of Pope John Paul II and told her son to shout "Allah Akhbar", Allah is great.

O.A.'s brother also defended him and said that the fault lies with Western provocations, their "attack against the nation". He accused the West and the "American dogs" of causing all evils.

"It is clear," said Mgr Padovese, "that the background that made Santoro's murder possible is nationalist-Islamist. That milieu is scary because it embodies the soul of some segments of Turkish society, increasingly inflexible, justifying violence. It is terrible that throughout the trial mother and son showed no remorse for the murder. In fact they almost said they would do it again."

Pope Benedict XVI is scheduled to visit Turkey in late November. "I hope," said the apostolic vicar, "that this [the trial] will have no repercussions on the Holy Father's visit to Turkey."

"The local press has given little coverage to the trial and the sentence imposed on Father Santoro's murderer," he noted. "They are more concerned with censuring France which is trying to acknowledge the Armenian genocide."

"If the press keeps up this attitude of defending the murderer's deed and accusing the Church, the sentence might have some influence on the Pope's visit," he added.

"Fr Andrea Santoro was falsely accused of proselytising, of buying conversions and forcing young Muslims to adopt the Christian faith. If the press pursues this line, there might be difficulties, not so much from the government but from nationalist-Islamist groups."