The governor of the US state of California has announced that he is denying early release to Sirhan Sirhan, who is in prison for the assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy. In an article published in the Los Angeles Times, the governor explained his decision to go against the advice of the state pardons board.
“She recently ruled that Sirhan meets the criteria for early release. I do not agree,” he said. According to him, Sirhan did not develop the sense of responsibility for his deeds and the worldview necessary for his safe reintegration into society.
Robert Kennedy was assassinated on June 5, 1968 at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles during the days of triumph – the presidential candidate was celebrating victory in the California primaries. The murder came as a shock to Americans still reeling from the murder of Brother Robert – President John F. Kennedy in 1963.
Sirhan was arrested at the crime scene with a gun in his hand. At the trial, he claimed that he did not remember anything due to a memory lapse. The man was sentenced to death, but three years later the sentence was reduced to life imprisonment. Over the past years, he filed a petition for pardon 15 times, but he was refused every time.
Sirhan’s final years served time in complete isolation. The reason for this was the ill-treatment of him by the guards, who mistook him for a Muslim extremist and mocked him after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
.
ttn-20