Asia-Pacific

US court upholds life sentence for 9/11 terrorist

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-01-05 09:59

WASHINGTON: A US appeal court on Monday confirmed the life sentence for a convicted al-Qaeda terrorist, who was charged with complicity in the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

The court in Richmond, Virginia rejected Zacarias Moussaoui's arguments to overturn his guilty plea and start a new trial.

"Moussaoui challenges the validity of his guilty plea and his sentences ... We affirm Moussaoui's convictions and sentences in their entirety," said the court in its ruling.

The French national, as the only person convicted in a US court on criminal charges related to the terrorist attacks, is currently serving his life sentence in a maximum-security federal detention facility in Colorado.

He pleaded guilty in 2005 and was sentenced to life in prison the next year by a federal jury in Virginia, not the death penalty as prosecutors demanded.

However, Moussaoui argued that his guilty plea should be considered invalid since the US government did not turn over some classified evidence that was helpful in his defense. His lawyer also claimed that Moussaoui did not have a fair trial and has been denied some rights.

But the US Justice Department defended the trial, saying the US District judge in charge of the case had made sure the suspect acknowledges his rights.

"The finality of the guilty plea, entered knowingly, intelligently, and with sufficient awareness of the relevant circumstances and likely consequences, stands," said the ruling.