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One pays the penalty

The federal judiciary of the United States has finally succeeded in punishing one person for his role in the murder of thousands in the horrific terror attacks of September 11, 2001. Zacarias Moussaoui shouted in triumph when the trial court judge awarded a sentence of life imprisonment instead of the death penalty. The 38-year-old convict might come to regret that boast since the rules of the Colorado penitentiary, in which he is to be incarcerated for life without any chance of parole, are extremely harsh. The inmates of this state-of-the-art maximum security prison hardly get a chance to interact with their guards, let alone with one another. Sections of the American public, which wanted to see the death penalty imposed, can now derive some satisfaction from the fact that Mr. Moussaoui will not be given a chance for grandstanding on the way to martyrdom. Legal experts seem to be of the view that the verdict was on expected lines. While determining culpability, the jury held that Mr. Moussaoui's role in the events of 9/11 was proved beyond doubt. However, when it came to deciding on the sentence, three jurors modified their opinion and expressed doubt about the extent of the accused's involvement. Several members of the jury also felt that some allowance should be made for a person who suffered physical abuse in his childhood and showed signs of being mentally disturbed. That several relatives of the victims of the terror strikes spoke up against capital punishment also appears to have swayed the jury.

The Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit that Mr. Moussaoui can now approach is not expected to be sympathetic at all, given its current composition. However, legal experts think the French national of Moroccan origin does have a case. The prosecution was unable to prove he was directly involved in the plan to hijack aircraft and crash them into the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. In fact, Mr. Moussaoui was already in jail on charges of violating immigration rules when the 19 hijackers carried out their calamitous attacks. In proceeding against him, the prosecution harped on the argument that he was guilty because he had not warned the authority concerned even though he had knowledge of the 9/11 conspiracy. His defence team was not allowed to examine witnesses whose testimony might have helped disprove the case against him. The U.S. holds the alleged mastermind of the attacks, Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, as well as the "20th hijacker," Mohammed al-Qahtani, in undisclosed detention centres. But they were not produced as witnesses either for the prosecution or the defence. They might have been able to speak to the veracity of media reports that Mr. Moussaoui was kept out of the attack teams because he was found unreliable. The security agencies that allegedly tortured Mohammed and al-Qahtani are in no position to produce these key figures in a courtroom.

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