Abdulmutallab jailed for life

By Emmanuel Oladesu and Joseph Jibueze 10 hours 33 minutes ago

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Abdulmutallab

Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who tried to blow up a Detroit United States - bound airliner with explosives concealed in his underwear on Christmas Day in 2009 was sentenced yesterday to life in prison.

United States federal judge Nancy G. Edmunds, who sentenced him, said his crime and subsequent lack of remorse demanded the maximum possible punishment. 

Abdulmutallab, who pleaded guilty in October and admitted to working on behalf of al Qaeda, shouted “Allah Akbar,” or “God is great,” five times during the sentencing hearing. He asserted that Muslims were “proud to kill in the name of God, that is what God told us to do in the Qur’an.” 

Five people on the flight with Mr. Abdulmutallab, including a flight attendant who helped put out the fire that resulted from the explosives, spoke during the hearing about the nightmares and fear they had experienced since the incident. 

Judge Edmunds of Federal District Court ordered Mr. Abdulmutallab to serve the maximum sentence of four consecutive life sentences, plus an additional 50 years, on the charges, which included conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. 

The Judge denied a motion by Mr. Abdulmutallab, who represented himself during much of the case with the assistance of a standby lawyer, to declare life imprisonment as cruel and unusual punishment because his act did not kill or seriously injure anyone. 

“Defendant has never expressed doubt or regret or remorse,” she said. “This court can’t control defendant’s motivations, which appear to be unchanged, but it can control defendant’s opportunity to act on those intentions.” 

Prosecutors showed a video demonstrating the type of explosion that could have occurred on Northwest Airlines Flight 253, which originated in Amsterdam, but for a technical problem that resulted in Mr. Abdulmutallab only setting himself and a wall of the plane on fire. 

Cathleen Corken, an assistant United States attorney, called it ”a cold-blooded, calculated plan to kill everyone aboard the plane.” 

“It was sheer fortuity that numerous deaths were avoided, and he should not be given credit for that,” Ms. Corken said. She noted that increased airport security measures implemented since the attempted bombing had shown that “the American public at large was victimized by the defendant’s conduct.” 

Mr. Abdulmutallab, who wore a white T-shirt and tan pants, spoke for about three minutes. He claimed that Osama bin Laden and other Al Qaeda leaders who have been killed “are alive and shall be victorious by God’s grace.” He also said terrorist attacks would continue “until the Jews are driven out of Palestine” Reacting to the judgment, AbdulMutallab’s family said the case brought them “tremendous shock.”

Nine members of the family, who had travelled to Detroit did not attend yesterday’s hearing. 

In a statement, the family says anyone who knew Abdulmutallab would believe he would be the “last person” to try to blow up a plane for al-Qaida. 

According to the statement, the family is grateful that no one was seriously hurt.

The family disagreed with the life sentence without parole.