Well, the easy explanation to this case is that he was sentenced for Life in Prison *WITH* the possibility of parole after 19 years
Quote:
Instead, Mr. Hamadi was put on trial in Frankfurt in 1989, found guilty of Mr. Stethem's murder, and sentenced to the maximum under the law of what was then West Germany, life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years.
---clip---
Normally in Germany, parole can be requested for people serving life sentences after 15 years in prison, but a court ruled that Mr. Hamadi would be eligible for parole only after serving 19 years.
|
This was just ordinary parole, with all respect to the Law.
Quote:
A spokeswoman for the Frankfurt prosecutor's office, Doris Möller-Scheu, said Mr. Hamadi's release after he had served 19 years, was a result of a normal, mandatory parole board review of his detention.
"Everything was O.K. with him, the prison evaluation, the psychologist's and the prosecutor's," Ms. Möller-Scheu said, explaining the reasons for the decision to grant Mr. Hamadi parole.
|
Justice is served, everything is fine. All sides satisfied, or are they?
Quote:
At the time of Mr. Hamadi's conviction, the United States expressed satisfaction at the outcome of the case, with the White House spokesman at the time, Marlin Fitzwater, saying, "Hamadi's sentence to life imprisonment satisfies the demand of justice and confirms that no cause or grievance excuses terrorism."
"We expect that Hamadi will serve the full sentence in accord with German law," Mr. Fitzwater said.
|
but enter the realities of today's world:
Quote:
|
But in Washington on Tuesday, Mr. McCormack said the United States was disappointed that Mr. Hamadi had not served out the entire term allowable by German law, which would have been 25 years.
|
Nice backpedalling, ne?
My opinion in this would be, as a non-US citizen, that he served his time and if the parole board agrees that he should be let go, then everybody should be happy. On the other hand, he should be kept under some surveillance and maybe barred from entering US ever. Your administration should choose that.
What I find distasteful is that there might be a manhunt going on now, in which he might get illegally snatched from the streets of Lebanon and brought to US where he can face a death sentence.
Original article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/21/in...l?pagewanted=2