Al-Marimi: Outrage as prosecutors are not seeking DEATH penalty for Lockerbie bombing suspect
WASHINGTON, DC: Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi, 71, one of the Lockerbie bombing suspects, appeared at a federal court hearing on Monday, December 12 in Washington, DC while grumbling about the flu. He was formally charged with terrorism in the horrific December 1988 attack. The three charges against him include “destruction of aircraft resulting in death,” which carries the death penalty. But prosecutors told the court they would not pursue the death penalty because it was not constitutionally available at the time of the bombing.
US Magistrate Judge Robin Meriweather told Al-Marimi about the criminal counts against him and read him his rights. However, the 71-year-old did not enter a plea and said that he wanted to retain his own counsel. He also told Meriweather he “took some medication and I have some flu,” an interpreter recounted. The judge gave him time till December 27 to retain a lawyer. The brief hearing was the first time a suspect in the case has faced justice on US soil.
