Bomber, Abdulmutallab, gets life sentence in US
The young Nigerian that attempted to bomb a United States-bound airliner in Detroit, Farouk Abdulmutallab, was on Thursday sentenced to life imprisonment without option of parole.
By no option of parole, Abdultallab’s sentencing is made mandatory. Parole, in the US criminal justice system, is the supervised release of a prisoner before the completion of their sentence in prison.
Abdulmutallab, now known as “underwear bomber” was sentenced by a US District Judge, Nancy Edmunds, having found him guilty of terrorism charges.
Edmunds said the courtroom had “heard some moving testimony” on Thursday but noted Abdulmutallab hadn’t expressed remorse for his actions.
“This was an act of terrorism that cannot be quibbled with,” Edmunds said.
The judge added that the court would have no ability to control Abdulmutallab from further acting on his intentions.
“I believe he poses a significant ongoing threat to safety of American citizens everywhere,” Edmunds said.
Before the sentencing on Thursday, the 25-year-old Abdultallab who entered the courtroom wearing khaki clam diggers, white socks, slip-on shoes, a white skull cap and handcuffs, had declared the day “a day of victory.”
After the sentencing, he shouted, “God is great!”
On December 25, 2009, Abdulmutallab, son of a former Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria, Umar Abdulmutallab, had attempted to detonate an explosive device aboard the US plane with 300 passengers on board.
The device reportedly malfunctioned underneath his garb and burned the convict.
He was arraigned on eight countes, including attempted murder and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.
Abdulmutallab had originally pleaded not guilty to all charges on the second day of his trial. He however had a change of mind in October last year and pleaded guilty to the charges.
In his written statement in front of Judge Nancy Edmunds he explained the reasons for his actions and confessed to being inspired by the teachings of Mujahid Osama Bin Laden.
“It’s one of the duties of a Muslim,” he told the judge.
“The Koran allows every Muslim to undertake jihad,” Abdulmutallab told the court after changing his plea.
He added, “I carried the device to avenge the killing of my Muslim brothers and sisters. Unfortunately, my actions make me guilty of a crime.” He called the failed explosives he had hidden in his underwear a “blessed weapon” and said he attempted to use it “because of the tyranny of the United States.”
Sentencing was initially scheduled for January 12, 2012, but was subsequently postponed to February 16 in order to give Abdulmutallab more time to review the pre-sentence investigation report completed by the United States Probation Service.
On Monday, he had begged not to be sentenced to life imprisonment.
Anthony Chambers, a defence attorney for Abdulmutallab, said that giving Abdulmutallab the life sentence, which is mandatory for two of the crimes to which he had plead guilty, would violate the Eighth Amendment, because no one other than his client suffered physical harm during the attempted attack.
The young Nigerian that attempted to bomb a United States-bound airliner in Detroit, Farouk Abdulmutallab, was on Thursday sentenced to life imprisonment without option of parole.
By no option of parole, Abdultallab’s sentencing is made mandatory. Parole, in the US criminal justice system, is the supervised release of a prisoner before the completion of their sentence in prison.
Abdulmutallab, now known as “underwear bomber” was sentenced by a US District Judge, Nancy Edmunds, having found him guilty of terrorism charges.
Edmunds said the courtroom had “heard some moving testimony” on Thursday but noted Abdulmutallab hadn’t expressed remorse for his actions.
“This was an act of terrorism that cannot be quibbled with,” Edmunds said.
The judge added that the court would have no ability to control Abdulmutallab from further acting on his intentions.
“I believe he poses a significant ongoing threat to safety of American citizens everywhere,” Edmunds said.
Before the sentencing on Thursday, the 25-year-old Abdultallab who entered the courtroom wearing khaki clam diggers, white socks, slip-on shoes, a white skull cap and handcuffs, had declared the day “a day of victory.”
After the sentencing, he shouted, “God is great!”
On December 25, 2009, Abdulmutallab, son of a former Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria, Umar Abdulmutallab, had attempted to detonate an explosive device aboard the US plane with 300 passengers on board.
The device reportedly malfunctioned underneath his garb and burned the convict.
He was arraigned on eight countes, including attempted murder and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.
Abdulmutallab had originally pleaded not guilty to all charges on the second day of his trial. He however had a change of mind in October last year and pleaded guilty to the charges.
In his written statement in front of Judge Nancy Edmunds he explained the reasons for his actions and confessed to being inspired by the teachings of Mujahid Osama Bin Laden.
“It’s one of the duties of a Muslim,” he told the judge.
“The Koran allows every Muslim to undertake jihad,” Abdulmutallab told the court after changing his plea.
He added, “I carried the device to avenge the killing of my Muslim brothers and sisters. Unfortunately, my actions make me guilty of a crime.” He called the failed explosives he had hidden in his underwear a “blessed weapon” and said he attempted to use it “because of the tyranny of the United States.”
Sentencing was initially scheduled for January 12, 2012, but was subsequently postponed to February 16 in order to give Abdulmutallab more time to review the pre-sentence investigation report completed by the United States Probation Service.
On Monday, he had begged not to be sentenced to life imprisonment.
Anthony Chambers, a defence attorney for Abdulmutallab, said that giving Abdulmutallab the life sentence, which is mandatory for two of the crimes to which he had plead guilty, would violate the Eighth Amendment, because no one other than his client suffered physical harm during the attempted attack.
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