European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 19, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse A Day 45 stripes Magazine vol. 48, no. 32 Friday May 19, 1989 d 8693 a Hamadi gets life for murder a illustration Mohammed All Hamadi Frankfurt West Germany a after 10 months of often chilling Tes Timony a West German court has sentenced Mohammed a Hamadi to life imprison for murder and air piracy in the 1985 hijacking of a Twa jetliner. The parents of the Navy dive slain during the ordeal said he deserved the death penalty. The . Government praised the verdict wednesday As a blow against terrorism. Related Story Back Page chief judge Heiner my Eckenberger gave the lebanese shiite moslem the maximum penalty under West German Law for the hijacking and the brutal beat ing and murder of diver Robert ,23. West Germany has no death penalty. During the ordeal 39 americans were held hostage for 17 Days. Many of the victims testified during the trial. The parents of the slain Sailor said death would have been a More appropriate penalty. Our family maintains Mohammed All Hamadi deserves punishment More severe than allowable under German Law Richard St them said in a statement. Sic them s parents who attended All of the trial s 65 sessions since it began july 5, 1988, warned against a possible political commutation of Hamadi s sentence. Any commutation of Hamadi s sen tence would be pure mockery of Justice they said. In Washington president Bush s spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said the conviction and sentencing of the 24 year old Hamadi satisfies the demand of Justice and confirms that no cause or grievance excuses Fitzwater said that although . Officials would have preferred extradition of Hamadi to the United states they were satisfied and gratified by the West Germany turned Down a . Request for Hamadi s extradition. Peter Korneck one of the prosecutors in the trial said that West German authorities will review Hamadi for a Possi ble parole in 15 years. said the court found Hamadi guilty of joint participation in murder in the killing of St them who was shot in the head. During the trial Hamadi repeatedly denied shooting St them saying the bul let was fired by his accomplice identified by the judge As Hassan Ezic dding. He is still a fugitive. Hamadi confessed to the hijacking charge shortly after the trial began. Twa flight 847 was seized on june 14, 1985, after the Boeing 727 took off from Athens for Rome. The plane flew twice to Algiers and three times to Beirut. St them was shot and thrown onto the runway to die when the plane landed the second time in Beirut in the Early morn ing hours of june 15, 1985. My Eckenberger said the court was unable to decide who actually shot St them because none of the passengers saw the killing. But the defendant knowingly and willingly participated in Stethem s killing and actively took part in its preparation the judge said. In the eyes of the court he shares the guilt whether he fired the shot himself or million March in Beiji from wire reports a Lac largest protest in communist China s 40-year history More than 1 Luion workers and other chinese citizen starched through Beij ing wednesday canting support for striking students and Twining for the Resig nations of top chinese ladders. The government is a competent. Why not resign asked a barter carried by employees of China s Coarr scarch Institute one of dozens of government agencies with groups in the March Many of the homemade banners it Ici cd Deng Xiaoping China s 84-Yc old senior ruler and Premier i Peng. Old Deng resign said a sign held aloft by workers from the ministry of sports As they streamed Down the ave nue of eternal peace the City s main thoroughfare. The massive March More than five times larger than a huge rally tuesday is sure to signal China s leaders that the students month old protest movement has entered a new phase. Beijing came to a virtual standstill from Dawn to Midnight wednesday As the marchers occupied the City s streets to head for Tiana men Square the huge Central Plaza where More than 2,000 student pro testers remain on a hunger strike. For the second straight Day the pro tests overshadowed and disrupted the visit of soviet Leader Mikhail Gorba Chev who is Here for the first sino soviet Summit in 30 years. In the morning. Gorbachev spoke aut great Hall of the people the huge by Wing n the West Side of . Jund rods of police ringed the burning but. Crowd of demonstrators a de no so Effort to enter the Jill. Later a Claril Fol news in Side to building was Mojo to to another site several a flues away. Gorbac Bov on a conc Day portrayed the popular uprising Thap Tias engulfed the chinese capital As met of a painful but healthy in communist countries. & in his most extensive comments on the demonstration Gorbachev cautiously praised the off dents who began the huge Vigil for Tjw tar democracy and repeatedly declared anal economic change was impossible Whf foul political Reform. By convinced that we arc participate a very serious turning Point in the clop mint of world socialism the Sovi Al Leader said at a news conference when asked to assess the unrest Here and in his own s demonstration was unprecedented in communist China s history. People from virtually All walks of life took part in the anti government protest. Steel workers grandmothers teachers and automobile works marched Side by Side carrying banners that identified their groups and chanting slogans for the govern ment to Grant the strikers demands. Baker rejects act ical arms talks by the Baltimore Sun Washington a senior West German official outlined a potential Compromise with the United states wednesday for negotiating with the so Viets on tactical nuclear weapons in jul rope an Issue threatening the this month s nato but Secretary of state James. Bake Iii in a trans Atlantic pics Confer Cnoc appeared unbending in or rejection of tactical arms talks Whir he said rethink that negotiate Oil re a Deputy of Orciari minister Helmut Schaefer one of relics of West German officials a ruffing in Washington in an Effort to a
