A 35-year-old Uzbek responsible for the 2017 New York terror attack in which eight people, including one Belgian, died was sentenced on Wednesday. Sayfullo Saipov was given 8 life sentences by a judge at the Manhattan Federal Court in New York. In January the court already found him guilty of the murders of Ann-Laure Decadt and 7 other people.
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8 life sentences for perpetrator of New York terror attack in which one Belgian died
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As the 12 members of the jury had not reached agreement on whether of not he should be given the death penalty it was decided that he should be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. This was the only other option available to the jury.
Now the precise sentence has been set. This is one of life imprisonment for each of the murders. Before sentencing was passed Sayfullo Saipov spoke in Uzbek through a translator for almost an hour on the history of Islam, trying to justify his crimes and showing not the slightest remorse.
The sister of the Belgian victim Ann-Laure Decadt exclaimed in the courtroom, after his monologue that "The only diabolical act committed here is the act that you committed!".
Halloween attack
On 31 October Sayfullo Saipov, who had been living in the United States since 2010, drove a hired pick-up truck at passers-by on a cycle path near to the Hudson River in Manhattan. The attack left eight people dead and many more injured. It was the worst terrorist attack in New York since the attack on the World Trade Centre on 11 September 2001.
Sayfullo Saipov claimed responsibility and said that he was actting on behalf of IS. Among those killed was Ann-Laure Decadt (photo below), a 31-year-old woman from the town of Staden in West Flanders. Three other Belgians were injured in the attack.