Moussaoui to Live
It's the right decision, both legally, politically and morally.
Evil as the man is, he did not actually kill anyone himself: he only plotted to do so. The other 19 hijackers gained for themselves martyrdom, if not in the eyes of God, certainly in the eyes of legions of angry young Muslims looking for heroes.
Were Moussaoui to be executed, he would become another such beacon for Islamic extremism. Osama Bin Laden would have a field day: imagine the speech he would make on al-Jazeeera.
The US needs to regain the international legitimacy for its human rights policy that was lost at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. This is a step towards achieving that aim, and placing the US back on the legal and moral pedestal that it needs to assert its primacy.
Most people wish it could be Christmas every day. Zacarias Moussaoui wishes it could be 9/11 every day. I'm sure he'll do well in a US jail, just like Jeffrey Dahmer.
BBC report here and reprinted below.
Moussaoui is spared death penalty
Al-Qaeda plotter Zacarias Moussaoui is to face life in jail, rather than execution, for his role in the 9/11 attacks, a US jury has decided.
The prosecution had called for the death sentence, arguing that "there is no place on this good Earth" for him.
But defence lawyers successfully argued he should face life in prison, rather than martyrdom through execution.
The judge is bound to hand down the jail sentence. Moussaoui is the only man prosecuted in the US over 9/11.
During six weeks of testimony in a Virginia court, prosecutors had argued he withheld information that could have helped prevent them.
Under cross-examination, Moussaoui said he had "no regret, no remorse" and wished it could be 11 September every day.
Moussaoui was arrested on immigration charges at a flight simulator school in Minnesota in August 2001.
Although he was in jail at the time of the attacks, prosecutors say he told lies to allow the plot to continue.
The verdict in favour of life imprisonment from the jury of nine men and three women was not unanimous.
However, jurors rejected the suggestion - put forward Moussaoui's defence - that the death penalty would help fulfil the defendant's visions of martyrdom.
Comments
I would've liked to see death on this issue. Rather than have the taxpayer's money fund a shelter and food for this guy, death would've been more appropriate. He has confessed to the plot numerous times. I'm a religious person so I have my faith in God to punish him after death.
Posted by: wom | May 3, 2006 11:49 PM