Colleen Thomas
Ultrafemme
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2002
- Posts
- 21,545
ALEXANDRIA, United States (AFP) - Zacarias Moussaoui shouted a final defiant "God curse America" before he was formally sentenced to life imprisonment and taken away to America's toughest prison.
The 37-year-old Frenchman was unapologetic to the end over the September 11, 2001 attacks which brought him before the US court.
"God curse America, God save Osama bin Laden. You'll never get him," said Moussaoui, delighting in his final encounter with Judge Leonie Brinkema, who officially delivered the jury's verdict of six life terms without a chance of parole.
"You came here to be a martyr and die in a big bang of glory. But to quote the poet T.S. Eliot, you will die with a whimper," Brinkema said.
The judge gave the formal sentence one day after a jury rejected a death sentence for Moussaoui, who had admitted to conspiracy in the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.
Brinkema rebuked Moussaoui, who on Wednesday had declared "I won" after he was spared the death penalty.
She told him that everyone except him would leave the court free to go where they want.
"They can go outside, see the sun, smell fresh air, hear the birds. You go back into custody and will stay the rest of your life in a supermax" (super-maximum-security) prison.
Moussaoui is to go to the top-security prison in Florence, Colorado, where a number of other Al-Qaeda followers are serving life terms.
"In terms of winners and losers, it is pretty clear who won yesterday and who lost yesterday," the judge said.
When Moussaoui arrived for the 20-minute hearing, he was smiling broadly and flashing "V" for "victory" signs to the public benches.
Brinkema described him as "an impossible defendant" and Moussaoui happily responded with a thumbs-up sign.
"I am a mujahid'. You think that you own the world, and you must admit you are wrong. People like Mohammed Atta and the rest have so much hatred for you," Moussaoui said, referring to the lead September 11 hijacker.
"You don't want to hear, America. You will feel. We will come back another day," he declared angrily.
Before he was sentenced and spoke, three relatives of September 11 victims stood at the lectern used by the lawyers and denounced Moussaoui.
"You took the most important person in my life from me," said Lisa Dolan, who lost her navy captain husband in the September 11, 2001 attack on the Pentagon.
When he got the chance to speak, Moussaoui mocked their testimony.
Referring to Dolan's husband, he said: "Of course he was developing peace and love in the world in his warship."
"You say that we (Al-Qaeda) are a hate organisation, I say the CIA is a peace and love organisation," Moussaoui said.
Prosecutor Rob Spencer rose to object to what he called Moussaoui's "political statement". Brinkema agreed, telling Moussaoui he could only talk about factors influencing the sentence he should receive.
Moussaoui had pleaded guilty to conspiring to hijack planes for Al-Qaeda and fly them into prominent US buildings.
He was detained in August 2001, but prosecutors had argued that his "lethal lies" while in detention had helped Al-Qaeda hijackers go ahead with the September 11 attacks unhindered.
The jury agreed in the first phase of the trial that Moussaoui had contributed toward the deaths and so was eligible for the death penalty.
But it did not come up with the unanimous verdict needed to recommend execution. Court documents did not indicate how many jurors favoured death, if any. But three jurors inserted a paragraph in the verdict form stating that they believed Moussaoui had "limited" knowledge of the September 11 plans.
In Paris, Moussaoui's mother asked French authorities Thursday to request that her son serve his prison time in France.
US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales promised that the United States would examine any French request over Moussaoui.
"No formal request has been made," Gonzales said in Vienna, on the sidelines of a conference of European justice and interior ministers.
"We expect a request by the French government. We will examine it," he said.
If this piece of shit didn't get the death penalty, what do we even have it for?
The 37-year-old Frenchman was unapologetic to the end over the September 11, 2001 attacks which brought him before the US court.
"God curse America, God save Osama bin Laden. You'll never get him," said Moussaoui, delighting in his final encounter with Judge Leonie Brinkema, who officially delivered the jury's verdict of six life terms without a chance of parole.
"You came here to be a martyr and die in a big bang of glory. But to quote the poet T.S. Eliot, you will die with a whimper," Brinkema said.
The judge gave the formal sentence one day after a jury rejected a death sentence for Moussaoui, who had admitted to conspiracy in the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.
Brinkema rebuked Moussaoui, who on Wednesday had declared "I won" after he was spared the death penalty.
She told him that everyone except him would leave the court free to go where they want.
"They can go outside, see the sun, smell fresh air, hear the birds. You go back into custody and will stay the rest of your life in a supermax" (super-maximum-security) prison.
Moussaoui is to go to the top-security prison in Florence, Colorado, where a number of other Al-Qaeda followers are serving life terms.
"In terms of winners and losers, it is pretty clear who won yesterday and who lost yesterday," the judge said.
When Moussaoui arrived for the 20-minute hearing, he was smiling broadly and flashing "V" for "victory" signs to the public benches.
Brinkema described him as "an impossible defendant" and Moussaoui happily responded with a thumbs-up sign.
"I am a mujahid'. You think that you own the world, and you must admit you are wrong. People like Mohammed Atta and the rest have so much hatred for you," Moussaoui said, referring to the lead September 11 hijacker.
"You don't want to hear, America. You will feel. We will come back another day," he declared angrily.
Before he was sentenced and spoke, three relatives of September 11 victims stood at the lectern used by the lawyers and denounced Moussaoui.
"You took the most important person in my life from me," said Lisa Dolan, who lost her navy captain husband in the September 11, 2001 attack on the Pentagon.
When he got the chance to speak, Moussaoui mocked their testimony.
Referring to Dolan's husband, he said: "Of course he was developing peace and love in the world in his warship."
"You say that we (Al-Qaeda) are a hate organisation, I say the CIA is a peace and love organisation," Moussaoui said.
Prosecutor Rob Spencer rose to object to what he called Moussaoui's "political statement". Brinkema agreed, telling Moussaoui he could only talk about factors influencing the sentence he should receive.
Moussaoui had pleaded guilty to conspiring to hijack planes for Al-Qaeda and fly them into prominent US buildings.
He was detained in August 2001, but prosecutors had argued that his "lethal lies" while in detention had helped Al-Qaeda hijackers go ahead with the September 11 attacks unhindered.
The jury agreed in the first phase of the trial that Moussaoui had contributed toward the deaths and so was eligible for the death penalty.
But it did not come up with the unanimous verdict needed to recommend execution. Court documents did not indicate how many jurors favoured death, if any. But three jurors inserted a paragraph in the verdict form stating that they believed Moussaoui had "limited" knowledge of the September 11 plans.
In Paris, Moussaoui's mother asked French authorities Thursday to request that her son serve his prison time in France.
US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales promised that the United States would examine any French request over Moussaoui.
"No formal request has been made," Gonzales said in Vienna, on the sidelines of a conference of European justice and interior ministers.
"We expect a request by the French government. We will examine it," he said.
If this piece of shit didn't get the death penalty, what do we even have it for?
"
