Abdulmutallab’s Family Seeks Review of ‘Underwear Bomber’ Sentence

Undated photo obtained on December 28, 2009 shows Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (R), charged in the United States with attempting to blow up an aircraft from Amsterdam, shortly before landing in Detroit on Christmas Day, posing in front of Buckingham Palace in London. (Photo credit: MIKE RIMMER/AFP/Getty Images)

KANO (AFP) – The parents of the Nigerian “underwear bomber” who tried to blow up an airliner on Christmas Day 2009 have urged the US to review the life sentences given to their son, said a statement Friday.

A judge in the US state of Michigan on Thursday condemned Al-Qaeda-linked Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to four consecutive life sentences for his botched attempt to blow up the airliner as it approached Detroit.

“We strongly appeal to the American Justice Department to review the life sentence,” Abdulmutallab’s family said in the statement sent to the media in Nigeria.

“We also appeal to the Federal Republic of Nigeria to… engage with the American government to ensure that a review is made to show justice in accordance with the circumstances of Umar Farouk’s case,” the statement continued.

In court, Abdulmutallab declared he was “proud to kill in the name of God” as he defended his botched attempt to kill the 289 people on board Northwest Airlines Flight 253 that originated in Amsterdam.

The family said they learned of the “unfortunate news” of the foiled attack on December 26, 2009.

“It was with tremendous shock that we discovered our son, Umar Farouk, was allegedly involved,” the statement said.

“This was so because even though he had gone missing by that time and there were concerns about his situation, he was nevertheless the last person anyone who knew him would link to such actions.

“We are grateful to God that the unfortunate incident of that date did not result in any injury or death. We pray for a more peaceful world,” the statement also said.

In October or November of 2009, Alhaji Umaru Mutallab — the bomber’s father — approached US embassy officials in the Nigerian capital and said he was worried his son had become radicalized by extremists in Yemen.

Mutallab, a British-educated prominent banker who serves on the board of several Nigerian companies, however gave no indication that his son planned an attack.

US authorities therefore did not add Abdulmutallab’s name to a “No Fly” list and the failure to act on the father’s warning struck a blow to the reputation of the US intelligence services.

Days after the thwarted bombing, the bomber’s family offered full cooperation to US authorities. Mutallab was then interrogated by the CIA and FBI in Abuja about his son’s actions.

In the statement, the family thanked “the American Government for facilitating visits to check on (Abdulmutallab’s) welfare and show love and support.”

The would-be suicide bomber showed no remorse during sentencing in the Detroit court on Thursday, saying he was carrying out the work of God against the “oppressors” of Muslims.

Despite stringent security measures at airports in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Abdulmutallab managed to smuggle more than 76 grams of the explosive Pentaerythritol tetranitrate on board the flight from Amsterdam.

But the bomb hidden in his underwear failed to properly detonate and instead simply caused a fire as the plane began its descent to Detroit.

Passengers and crew members were able to restrain Abdulmutallab and extinguish the blaze, allowing pilots to safely land the plane.

Yesterday, Abdulmutallab, gets life sentence in US

The young Nigerian that attempted to bomb a United States-bound airliner in Detroit, Farouk Abdulmutallab, was on Thursday sentenced to life imprisonment without option of parole.

By no option of parole, Abdultallab’s sentencing is made mandatory. Parole, in the US criminal justice system, is the supervised release of a prisoner before the completion of their sentence in prison.

Abdulmutallab, now known as “underwear bomber” was sentenced by a US District Judge, Nancy Edmunds, having found him guilty of terrorism charges.

Edmunds said the courtroom had “heard some moving testimony” on Thursday but noted Abdulmutallab hadn’t expressed remorse for his actions.

“This was an act of terrorism that cannot be quibbled with,” Edmunds said.

The judge added that the court would have no ability to control Abdulmutallab from further acting on his intentions.

“I believe he poses a significant ongoing threat to safety of American citizens everywhere,” Edmunds said.

Before the sentencing on Thursday, the 25-year-old Abdultallab who entered the courtroom wearing khaki clam diggers, white socks, slip-on shoes, a white skull cap and handcuffs, had declared the day “a day of victory.”

After the sentencing, he shouted, “God is great!”

On December 25, 2009, Abdulmutallab, son of a former Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria, Umar Abdulmutallab, had attempted to detonate an explosive device aboard the US plane with 300 passengers on board. The device reportedly malfunctioned underneath his garb and burned the convict.

He was arraigned on eight counts, including attempted murder and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.

Abdulmutallab had originally pleaded not guilty to all charges on the second day of his trial. He however had a change of mind in October last year and pleaded guilty to the charges.

In his written statement in front of Judge Nancy Edmunds, he explained the reasons for his actions and confessed to being inspired by the teachings of Mujahid Osama Bin Laden.

“It’s one of the duties of a Muslim,” he told the judge.

“The Koran allows every Muslim to undertake jihad,” Abdulmutallab told the court after changing his plea.

He added, “I carried the device to avenge the killing of my Muslim brothers and sisters. Unfortunately, my actions make me guilty of a crime.” He called the failed explosives he had hidden in his underwear a “blessed weapon” and said he attempted to use it “because of the tyranny of the United States.”

Sentencing was initially scheduled for January 12, 2012, but was subsequently postponed to February 16 in order to give Abdulmutallab more time to review the pre-sentence investigation report completed by the United States Probation Service.

On Monday, he had begged not to be sentenced to life imprisonment.

Anthony Chambers, a defence attorney for Abdulmutallab, said that giving Abdulmutallab the life sentence, which is mandatory for two of the crimes to which he had plead guilty, would violate the Eighth Amendment, because no one other than his client suffered physical harm during the attempted attack.

Written by News Desk on Feb 17 2012 Filed under In the News, Nigeria. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.