Groom calls for failed suicide bomber to be hanged in public
A man whose wedding was destroyed by a suicide attack today asked a Jordanian court to condemn to death by public hanging the one assailant who survived the bombing.
“I am very happy now to see that the people who killed my family are facing justice,” Ashraf al-Akhras told a military court hearing the case of Sajida al-Rishawi and seven others charged with the November 9 bombings.
In the attack, three suicide bombers blew themselves up at three luxury hotels in Amman, killing 60 people. One of the bombers targeted al-Akhras’ wedding reception. Al-Rishawi, who had married the bomber a few days beforehand, accompanied him, but her explosive belt failed to detonate.
Al-Rishawi pleaded not guilty to plotting a terrorist attack shortly before al-Akhras gave evidence.
Her lawyer, Hussein al-Masri, asked the court to commission a psychological evaluation of his client.
“My client has been manipulated,” al-Masri told the court. “She is very easy to persuade and does not recognise her actions.”
Al-Masri did not say who had manipulated her, but he had previously said al-Rishawi had been manipulated by the other plotters, including her bomber-husband.
The court rejected al-Masri’s request, saying he had failed to produce documents to support his allegations.
But the judges did respond to al-Masri when he asked for the proceedings to begin with a minute of silence in memory of the victims.
With evident emotion, Al-Akhras told the court that his father, both the parents of his bride, and other family members had died in the attack on the wedding at the Radisson SAS hotel.
“I ask the court to be fair in its judgment and sentence this woman to be hanged in public,” al-Akhras said.
Al-Rishawi, 35, listened to the evidence silently and without expression on her face. She stood in the dock throughout the 90-minute hearing, wearing a black headscarf and a blue prison uniform. Her ankles were chained.
The hearing was adjourned until May 22.
