Posted on 10/17/2004 1:19:12 PM PDT by knighthawk
BERN, Switzerland (AP) - A Lebanese hijacker who served 17 years in a Swiss prison for killing a passenger and seriously wounding a flight attendant in 1987 has been released and deported to Lebanon, officials said Sunday. Hussein Hariri agreed to immediate deportation and was sent to Beirut on a chartered plane Tuesday with two other Lebanese who had been living in Switzerland illegally, said Dominique Boillat, spokesman for the Federal Refugee Office, confirming a report in the weekly Le Matin Dimanche.
Hariri was sentenced to life in prison after he commandeered an Air Afrique DC-10 flying from Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, to Paris on July 23, 1987. He demanded the release of Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners held by France, West Germany and Israel.
Hariri, who was 21 at the time of the hijacking, wanted to be flown to Beirut but agreed to a refuelling stop in Geneva where he shot dead a French passenger when his deadline for refuelling expired.
Swiss police stormed the plane and arrested Hariri after crew members overpowered him. A flight attendant was shot and seriously injured when he tackled Hariri.
During his 1989 trial, Hariri told the court he was a "soldier of God" and did not want to kill. He refused to testify about allegations he was on a mission for the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
Life sentences in Switzerland usually last 20 years. Le Matin reported Hariri would have been eligible for release last spring, but he was held six months longer because he had escaped to Morocco during a 2002 prison furlough.
He was held in a Moroccan jail for several months before being returned to Switzerland in August 2003. He also escaped from Swiss prison in 1992, but was recaptured a week later.
Ping
"Tough" on crime approach from Europe. Feh.
A hijacker escapes AFTER the 9-11 attacks and only merits 6 more months in jail.
Just in time for him to take a few hostages.
Europeans are far too soft to survive, and America isn't that far behind.
Correction. Some of America isn't that far behind.
Why is this piece of filth still breathing?
A Furlough?? For a terrorist???? Escaped to Morocco?
I hope we don't have any soft-on-crime Massachusetts types running things here.
How long do you think the average "life sentence" is in one of the US states. A life sentence used to mean as little as 7 years for an 'ordinary' murder in some states. The averages have gone up over the last few years as more prisons have been built, (for high average numbers go to socialist, anti-death penalty sites, which still only give numbers in the 20s for average years served under a life sentence.) Part of the increase is caused by counting in "life without parole" prisoners, who do tend to serve longer sentences than mere "life" prisoners.
If we are going to treat terrorism as a crime and not an act of war, I would at least like to see combatants removed from the public arena.
He has already murdered a passenger during a hijacking. Since 9-11-2001 he has escaped from jail.
I do not feel any safer with "civilized" Europe's response to this threat.
This is why you kill these murderers instead of giving them life. 17 years is not life. This bad apple should have been put away forever.
I would. Of course, I also favor the death penalty.
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