A US Federal Appeal Court has upheld the life sentence on Farouk
Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian man who tried to set off an explosive while aboard
a US airliner in 2009.
The
6th US Circuit Court of Appeal rejected arguments by the man known as the
underwear bomber that the sentence was cruel and US District Judge, Nancy
Edmunds, had erred by letting him represent himself at trial despite doubts
about his competency.
Mr.
Abdulmutallab challenged the sentence despite having pleaded guilty in October
2011, a day after his trial began.
He
called his attempted bombing at the time a part of his “religious duty” to
participate in a Jihad against the United States to avenge attacks on Muslims.
Writing
for a three-judge panel, Circuit Judge, David Mckeague, said that a life
sentence was appropriate, given the nature of the crime, and the defendant,
having committed an act of terrorism, “communicated a desire” to undertake
more.
The
Circuit Judge had found no reason to question Abdulmutallab’s competence, and
said that statements were admissible under a public safety exception to the
warning against self-incrimination.
Mr.
Abdulmutallab’s bomb ignited a comet but did not explode on Northwest Airlines
Flight 253, which had 289 people on board.
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