US court finds Gurung incompetent to stand trial
Post Report
KATHMANDU, April 24 : A Nepali man arrested in Chicago last year on charges of concealing weapons while boarding a flight has been found incompetent to stand trial.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper, Subash Gurung, who was arrested last year in November at the Chicago OHare International Airport while trying to board a domestic flight was found incompetent to stand trial by the federal district court.
US District Judge William J. Hibbler ruled on April 22 that Gurung will remain in a federal prison hospital at Rochester, Minnesota, for treatment. He could be tried again if he recovers. The newspaper said that the judge based his decision on the findings of two psychiatrists who examined Gurung.
Gurung, who faces a prison term or possible deportation, was arrested on November 3 last year at the airport while trying to board a flight to Omaha, Nebraska. Security officials found several knives, a stun gun and a can of pepper spray in his carry on luggage.
The Chicago Sun-Times added that the judge ordered attorneys to report back to the court on June 24 on what progress doctors are making in restoring Gurungs competency.
Gurungs arrest was the first high-profile case involving lax of US airport security after the horror of September 11, when 19 hijackers slipped through security at various US airports and took control of large jets full of passengers. They slammed the jets on the World Trade Centre Twin Towers in New York, and also on the Pentagon in Washington.
The apparent lack of airport security demonstrated by Gurungs arrest helped convince Americas politicians to put airport security workers on the federal payrolls. Earlier, airport security was mostly contracted out to private companies.