[ad_1]
After Kennedy’s two sons spoke in support of Sirhan Sirhan’s release and prosecutors refused to argue that he should be detained, US Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s assassin was recommended for parole on Friday.
This decision is a major victory for Sirhan, a 77-year-old Palestinian Christian from Jordan, although it does not guarantee his release.
The staff of the California Parole Board will review Sirhan’s 16th parole hearing during the two-person panel’s decision within the next 90 days. Then, it will be sent to the governor, who will have 30 days to decide whether to grant, revoke or modify it.
Douglas Kennedy was a toddler when his father was born Was shot In 1968, he said that he was moved to tears by Sirhan’s remorse and that if he did not threaten others, he should be released.
Senator Robert Kennedy addressed campaign staff before he was shot dead in Los Angeles. On June 5, 1968, his wife Ethel and his California campaign manager Jesse Unruh were spokespersons for the California State Assembly. [File: Dick Strobel/AP Photo]“I was at a loss to be able to see Mr. Sirhan face to face,” he said at Sirhan’s parole hearing. “I think I’ve been afraid of him and his name in one way or another all my life. Today I am grateful to see him as a person worthy of sympathy and love.”
Silhan was dressed in a blue prison uniform. The tissue was folded like a handkerchief and stuffed into his pocket. Kennedy smiled as he spoke.
Robert F Kennedy Jr has expressed support for Sirhan’s release in the past, and he wrote to support Sirhan on parole.
Sirhan told the board that he had learned to control his anger and was committed to living in peace.
“I will never put myself in danger again,” he said. “You have my promise. I will always pay attention to security, peace and non-violence.”
On June 6, 1968, Kennedy, the New York State Senator and the brother of President John F. Kennedy, was the Democratic presidential candidate. He was shot dead at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles shortly after he delivered a victory speech in the key California primary election.
Sirhan was convicted of first-degree murder. He said he did not remember the murder.
His lawyer Angela Berry argued that the board should make decisions based on Sirhan today.
According to the policies of Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon, the prosecutor refused to participate in or opposed his release. George Gascon was a former police officer who took office after campaigning on the reform platform last year.
Gascon said that he admires the Kennedy family and mourns the assassination of Robert Kennedy. He believes that the role of prosecutors ends at the time of sentencing and that they should not influence the decision to release prisoners.
Parole Commissioner Robert Patton said at the beginning of the lawsuit on Friday that some of Kennedy’s family members, Los Angeles law enforcement officers, and the public had submitted letters opposing the release of Sirhan, who appeared at the San Diego County Jail.
“We don’t have a DA here, but I have to consider all aspects,” Patton said, noting that it will consider prosecutors’ past arguments against his release, depending on their relevance.
Sirhan served 53 years in prison for the murder and admitted that he was angry at Kennedy’s support for Israel.
When asked about his views on the Middle East conflict Today, Sirhan burst into tears and was speechless for the time being.
“Take a few deep breaths,” Patton said, noticing that the conflict hadn’t gone away, and it still touched his nerves.
Sirhan said he is not concerned about what is happening in the area, but about the suffering of the refugees.
“The suffering those people are going through. It’s painful,” Sirhan said.
If released, Sirhan may be deported to Jordan. Patton said he fears that he may become a “symbol or lightning rod inciting more violence.”
Sirhan said he was too old to be involved in the Middle East conflict, and he would stay away from it.
“It can be said or made the same argument that I can become a peacemaker and contribute to solving problems in a friendly, non-violent way,” Sirhan said.
Sirhan, who was only 24 years old at the time of the assassination, was sentenced to death after being convicted, but when the California Supreme Court briefly declared the death penalty illegal in 1972, the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
Sirhan Sirhan, right, with his lawyer Russell E Parsons in Los Angeles, June 1968 [File: AP Photo]Sirhan used to insist that he didn’t remember the killing. However, he recalled in detail the incident before the crime-went to the shooting range that day, went to the hotel to find a party, and then came back after he realized that he was drunk and couldn’t drive after drinking Tom Collins cocktail.
Just before the assassination, he and a woman who attracted him drank coffee in the storeroom of the hotel. The next thing he remembered was being choked and unable to breathe while in custody. At the 2016 hearing, he said that he regrets any crime victims, but cannot be held responsible for the shooting.
Sirhan told the panel at the time that if released, he hoped he would be deported to Jordan or live with his brother in Pasadena, California.
[ad_2]
Source link