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| Death Sentence For Traitor Akbar |
| 2005-04-29 |
| A military jury sentenced a soldier to death Thursday for a grenade and rifle attack on his own comrades during the opening days of the Iraq invasion, a barrage that killed two officers and that prosecutors said was driven by religious extremism. Sgt. Hasan Akbar, who gave a brief, barely audible apology hours earlier, stood at attention between his lawyers as the verdict was delivered. He showed no emotion. He could have been sentenced to life in prison with or without parole for the early morning March 2003 attack, which also wounded 14 fellow members of the Army's 101st Airborne Division at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait. The 15-person military jury, which last week took just two and a half hours to convict Akbar of premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder, deliberated for about seven hours in the sentencing phase. After jurors reached a verdict, they voted on whether to reconsider the decision after one juror asked that they do so. The sentence will be reviewed by a commanding officer and automatically appealed. If Akbar is executed, it would be by lethal injection. "I want to apologize for the attack that occurred. I felt that my life was in jeopardy, and I had no other options. I also want to ask you for forgiveness," Akbar told the jury before it deliberated in the sentencing phase. Akbar, 34, spoke for less than a minute, delivering an unsworn statement that could not be cross-examined. He spoke in such a low voice that even prosecutors sitting nearby had trouble hearing, with one lawyer even cupping his ear. While the defense contends Akbar was too mentally ill to plan the attack, they have never disputed that he threw grenades into troop tents in the early morning darkness and then fired on soldiers in the ensuing chaos. Army Capt. Chris Seifert, 27, and Air Force Maj. Gregory Stone, 40, were killed. Prosecutors say Akbar launched the attack at his camp — days before the soldiers were to move into Iraq — because he was concerned about U.S. troops killing fellow Muslims in the Iraq war. "He is a hate-filled, ideologically driven murderer," chief prosecutor Lt. Col. Michael Mulligan said. He added that Akbar wrote in his diary in 1997, "My life will not be complete unless America is destroyed." Akbar is the first American since the Vietnam era to be prosecuted on charges of murdering a fellow soldier during wartime. "Hasan Akbar has robbed me of so many things," Tammie Eslinger, Maj. Gregory Stone's fiancee, said after the sentencing. "He stole my love, my family, my dreams and my future. But he could never steal my spirit." Seifert's widow, Theresa, said she was satisfied with the military justice system. She called Akbar "a nonentity to me." Defense attorney Maj. David Coombs told jurors that a sentence of life without parole would allow Akbar to be treated for mental illness and possibly rehabilitated. "Death is an absolute punishment, a punishment of last resort," Coombs said. A defense psychiatrist testified that although Akbar was legally sane and understood the consequences of his attack, he suffered from forms of paranoia and schizophrenia. Akbar's father, John Akbar, has said his son complained in vain to his superiors about religious and racial harassment before the attack. The defense never introduced any witnesses to testify about any such harassment. John Akbar was not in the courtroom for the verdict. He emerged from a meeting with his son in tears and declined to comment. If given a death sentence, Hasan Akbar would join five others on the military's death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. The last U.S. military execution was in 1961. A very special place in hell awaits you, scumbag. Enjoy it. |
| Posted by:Chris W. |
| #12 I like that - soiling himself... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-04-29 11:21:34 PM |
| #11 A good hanging broadcast will do wonders, especially with a drop that does not break his neck. He will then do the rope dance. I am not a sadistic person, but this guy needs to die in disgrace. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2005-04-29 11:03:30 PM |
| #10 I personally prefer hanging, with a thick rope, on national television. Let the entire nation learn that treason will NOT be tolerated. Then send a team to pick up Jane Fondle and John SKrewy. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2005-04-29 10:24:18 PM |
| #9 yep, at least the CryptKeeper has found something new to do.... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-04-29 7:16:19 PM |
| #8 Re: Lady with sign There should be an immediate investigation on several fronts: Where did the moonbats dig up that poor woman, how long had she been dead, why was the embalming botched, and why weren't the instigators of this spectacle arrested for desecrating a corpse? |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2005-04-29 5:13:05 PM |
| #7 The actual execution of a Muslim traitor and terrorist will be a turning point in the war of perception. The ummah will finally realize that collaborationist elements are under siege in the United States, and that the chances of a Vietnam style appeasement/surrender progression decline every day. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2005-04-29 5:09:38 PM |
| #6 "He added that Akbar wrote in his diary in 1997, 'My life will not be complete unless America is destroyed.' " Must have gone to the Giuliana Sgrena Worldwide Madras for Hating America. |
| Posted by: jules 187 2005-04-29 5:08:57 PM |
| #5 Justice is sweet! They ought to bring back the firing squad; lethal injection just doesn't seem like enough somehow. |
| Posted by: Van Helsing 2005-04-29 1:10:08 PM |
| #4 Heh - maybe they'll put her in the cell with her pal Akbar. |
| Posted by: Matt 2005-04-29 12:58:28 PM |
| #3 #1 - When did they let her off Scab Island? |
| Posted by: Fred 2005-04-29 12:56:36 PM |
| #2 The last U.S. military execution was in 1961. Get on with it! |
| Posted by: Jackal 2005-04-29 12:35:14 PM |
| #1 Here's a picture that will annoy you. Hat tip to Blackfive. |
| Posted by: Matt 2005-04-29 12:28:11 PM |
