Posted on 12/20/2005 7:10:50 AM PST by minus_273
BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- A Hezbollah militant sentenced to life in Germany for murdering a U.S. Navy diver during the 1985 hijacking of a U.S. jetliner has been freed, officials said.
The German government denied on Tuesday the release was related to the freeing of a German hostage in Iraq.
Mohammed Ali Hamadi was released Thursday and allowed to return to his native Lebanon on the next day, after qualifying for parole after 19 years in prison, said Ulrich Hermanski, spokesman for the North Rhine Wesphalia state justice ministry.
"There was no special treatment," Hermanski said in a telephone interview.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
This is a f-----g outrage.
From the viewpoint of the responsible German judge this release was for sure no betrayal on the US.
Hammadi was probably about more than 15 years behind bars. This is the usual timespan were killers are released in Germany. He also would have been freed if he would have killed Germans. I doubt that it has anything to do with the recent release of this woman in Iraq since Hammadi was -to my knowlege- a shiite. The hostage was a German woman that was hijacked by some sunni criminal idiots who wanted to press out money. Merkel probably paid. This is another party.
You should see the different judicial attitudes on both sides of the Atlantic. Furthermore it is nothing new that official Germany (no matter if Schroeder or Merkel is involved) doesn't feel itself engaged in the war on terror. Therefore this is simply a quite normal process. It has absolutely nothing to do with any backstabbing.
BTW - I would have disposed him quietly in the mediterranian.
Yes, but he was not extradited to the U.S., and according to Toensing, hostages played a role in the failure to extradite. Couple that with the ugly cave-in months after Munich, and there's reason for concern.
Why? This is the regular time for murder in Germany. Actually, 19 years are two or so above the average.
According to the State of Hesse, there was no extradition request by the US.
I actually agree with you, however the timing is exremely unfortunate, and not just because it will upset many Americans, but because it will encourage many terrorists. Many of them are Arabs, and it is common in the Arab culture to try to take some victory out of any situation. They will make the connection, whether or not there is one, and this could endanger more people.
This issue has come up a number of times in the past, most recently (I think) with regard to the PLO terrorists who seized the Achille Lauro and dumped Leon Klinghoffer overboard. The biggest problem the U.S. faces in cases like this is that these incidents usually occur outside the legal jurisdiction of the U.S., and as such our government has very limited recourse in seeking justice.
So Frau Merkel likes negotiating with terrorists.
I hope a recent picture of this POS just went up in all naval special warfare commmands.
Or we could ask Israel for a favor. They'd probably do it for no charge.
This is just plain stupid, sheesh.
I'm talking about 1985-87, not 2005.
Is it really that stupid? When that wall came down millions of socialists were given liberty, which they didn't earn. Thus we have the new "enlightened" Germany.
I believe the cause of the consternation is exactly that this is what Germany understands as Justice.
Ditto LiL Bro is back in the field......
Why? Because he should have been tried in the U.S. for capital murder, for a crime committed while aboard an American aircraft, and where he surely would have been convicted and executed. Instead, he has reaped the benefits of european enlightenment and now can resume his islamofascist killing spree. My only wish is that he hones his skills on european victims next time.
"This is what Germany understands as Justice. Killers are usually released after 15-18 years imprisonment, so there´s really not much behind the story other than that the victim was an American. The German government had no influence on this, nor was the release of the German hostage in Iraq an issue here.
The problem is that many of us have bitter memories of the Munich terrorists being released after a hijacking, mere months after they butchered the Israeli athletes. The precedent is there, so the incident does arouse suspicion."
The history of the Stasi after the end of the cold war is interesting. Germany spent considerable effort to capture the murderous criminals, but only put them in prison for a few years. If the shoe would have been on the other foot, the Commies would have executed the Westerners.
There would have been no chance of a extradition to the United States since in your country he would have been threatened by capital punishment. A absolute no-no which is strictly forbidden throughout Europe. Germany and other European countries do not extradite to countries where the offender could end on a scaffold. This has for sure nothing to do with hostages.
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