Italy plans to prosecute Turkish hijacker despite asylum plea

Italian officials today said they intend to prosecute a Turkish man for hijacking a plane, despite his appeal for political asylum on the grounds that he is being persecuted as a Christian in Muslim Turkey.

“Even a bicycle thief can ask for political asylum. But at this moment this doesn’t mean anything,” Brindisi prosecutor Giuseppe Giannuzzi said. He added that his office was also looking into whether the hijacker, Hakan Ekinci, could be charged with terrorism.