Attack in New York in which 5 Argentines died: the prosecution requested the death penalty for the terrorist

As expected, in the final stage of the trial for the 2017 New York City bombing, the prosecutor’s office upheld the request for the death penalty For Sayfullo Saipovthe terrorist who ran over and killed eight cyclists in this city, including five Argentines who had traveled to the United States to celebrate 30 years of graduation from the Polytechnic College of Rosario.

The measure, which is a rarity for this state, where no one has been executed since 1963, was requested after the 35-year-old from Uzbekistan was found guilty of the attack on the parallel bike path at the Hudson River on October 31 of this year.

In this episode they died Hernan Mendoza, Diego Angelini, Alexander Pagnucco, Ariel Erlij and Hernan Ferrucciwho were killed by Saipov, who ran them over at over 60 miles per hour with a truck he had rented from Home Depot.

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“He has no regrets and the tests show he is dangerous”the prosecutor said on Monday Amanda Leigh Houleaccording to local media, when the final stage of the trial officially began, during the hearing which began after 10:30 a.m. in room 24B of the building at 500 Pearl Street.

During her presentation to the jury, which is now the one who must decide whether or not to apply this sentence, the official pointed out that it is for this reason that “the United States is asking for the most severe sentence provided for in the law, the death penalty. “

For its part, the terrorist’s defense asked the jury to impose life imprisonment instead, arguing that Saipov will end his life in prison and that the cycle of death must be “stopped” at some point.

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Last week, the defendant’s lawyers repeatedly tried to overturn the government’s decision to seek the death penalty, citing the request for a conviction as possible ethnic or religious discrimination.

The defense also questioned whether the prosecutor’s office asked for this sentence, despite the fact that there is a moratorium on federal executions and that the president himself Joe Biden he refused to allow them in more deadly attacks, such as the Walmart hate crime case in El Paso, Texas, in which 23 people were murdered in 2019.

In fact, Saipov’s case represents the first time the prosecutor’s office has sought capital punishment for a defendant under the Joe Biden administration, which on his campaign trail promised to eliminate capital punishment at the federal level.

El gobierno de Donald Trump, que retomó las ejecuciones federales en 2020 tras años paralizadas, fue el que autorizó a pedir esa pena en caso que el terrorista fuese fuese considered culpable por el jurado y la postura de los fiscals se ha mantenido pese al cambio en the White House.

Biden has imposed a moratorium on federal executions, but if found guilty, Saipov could face the death penalty if that measure is lifted in the future, such as with a new government.

For the death penalty to be imposed, there must be unanimity among the twelve members of the jury, who will listen to the parties’ arguments over the next few days before stepping down to deliberate. It is enough that only one opposes so that this sentence cannot be pronounced.

The case is all the more striking as it takes place in New York, which has abolished the death penalty at the state level and where no executions have taken place since 1963.

Saipov, who was said to have been inspired by the actions of the Islamic State (EI), intentionally ran over several people traveling along a bicycle path in the Big Apple with a truck they had rented, killing eight people and injuring twelve.

Prosecutors say the man – who had emigrated to the US after obtaining a visa in a lottery – wanted to join ISIS and numerous videos and images of the terror group and its then ’emir’ have been found on his cell phone.

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