A judge found a Kuwaiti policeman guilty Wednesday in a shooting attack that wounded two U.S. troops and sentenced him to a total of 15 years in prison.
"This is not fair, your honor!" Khaled al-Shimmiri, who had pleaded insanity, shouted from the dock when the verdict and sentence was read. In addition to the sentence of 10 years for attempted murder and five for unlawful possession of a weapon, to be served consecutively, Judge Nayef al-Mutairat ordered al-Shimmiri, 20, to be dismissed from the Kuwaiti police force. Prosecutors had asked for the harshest possible sentence, life in prison, AP reported.
Master Sgt. Larry Thomas, 51 and Sgt. Charles Ellis, 27, both reservists from Lake Charles, Louisiana, were driving along a Kuwait desert highway on Nov. 21 when al-Shimmiri, in a patrol car, flagged them down, ostensibly for speeding, and shot and seriously wounded them.
"The man on trial has lost his mind ... he has committed his crime in a heated political situation," lawyer Nawwaf al-Mutairi had told the court earlier Wednesday.
Al-Shimmiri had testified that he didn't remember the shooting and had no motive for such an attack. (Albawaba.com)
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