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Neerja’s killer gets 160 years in
solitary confinement
Maneesh Chhibber
Tribune News Service
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Brief chronologySept 5, 1986: Pan Am flight 73 hijacked. 21, including Neerja killed; over 100 injured. Sept 7, 1986: Neerja’s body brought from Pakistan. 1988: Five hijackers given death sentence by a Pak court. Sentence later changed to life. August 29, 1991: Washington DC court returns sealed 126-count indictment in the case. Sept 28, 2001: Zaid Hassan Abd Latif
Safarini, leader of hijackers, released from Pak prison. Tries to escape to Syria but is caught by FBI team. Oct 1, 2001: Safarini produced in an Alaska court and is ordered to be taken to Washington DC. Oct 2, 2001: Safarini produced before Washington court, pleads not guilty. August 28, 2002: Grand Jury indicts Safarini and his accomplices on 95 counts. Sept 12, 2002: Safarini again pleads not guilty. April 10, 2003: Court rules he cannot be given death penalty. December 16, 2003: Safarini changes plea, admits that he is guilty on all 95 counts. May 13, 2004: Judge Emmet G. Sullivan orders 160 years prison term for
Safarini.
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Chandigarh, May 14
Zaid Hassan Abd Latif Safarini, the 42-year-old Jordanian involved in the killing of 21 innocent persons, including Chandigarh-born Neerja Bhanot, during an attempt to hijack a Pan Am aircraft at Karachi airport on September 5, 1986, has been sentenced to 160 years in solitary confinement by a US court. In his detailed order, US District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan also recommended that Safarini be lodged at the ADX Florence, Colorado Federal Correctional Institute, a super maximum security prison. Safarini and four others has stormed the Pan Am flight 73 at Karachi airport and tried to hijack it.
Exemplary courage shown by Ms Neerja Bhanot, a Senior Flight Purser with Pan Am,
ensured that the attempt did not succeed. The terrorists were arrested, but not before they had gunned down Neerja and 20 others as well as injured over 100 passengers. There were a total of 379 persons on board the aircraft at the time of the attack. Just two days short of her 23rd birthday, Neerja was posthumously awarded the Ashok Chakra, the highest bravery award for civilians. Families of many of those killed as well as survivors of the massacre were present in the courtroom when the sentence was announced. Neerja Bhanot’s brother was also among those who had been requested by the US government to witness the trial. US Attorney General John Ashcroft said that the severity of the sentence imposed against Safarini underscores the brutality of his terrorist acts against innocent civilian lives. “We are honoured by the dignity of the victims and their families, who have travelled to this sentencing proceeding from near and far, to advise the court and the world how these atrocious acts have impacted their lives,” he added. In December 2003, Safarini had pleaded guilty to all 95 counts against him, including murder of United States nationals, attempt to commit air piracy resulting in death, placing a destructive device on an aircraft resulting in death and hostage taking. The court had earlier ruled that the accused could not be given the death penalty.
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