BOSTON // Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev apologised to his victims in court for the first time on Wednesday, moments before being formally sentenced to death by a federal judge.
The US citizen of Chechen descent was sentenced to death on six counts over the 2013 bombings, one of the worst assaults on American soil since the September 11 attacks in 2001.
“I would like to now apologise to the victims and to the survivors,” said the 21-year-old in his first public remarks since the attack that killed three people.
“I am guilty,” he said, standing pale and thin in a dark blazer. “Let there be no doubt about that.”
The former university student said he listened throughout the 12-week trial as he learnt about the victims from often harrowing testimony.
“I am sorry for the lives I have taken, for the suffering, the damage that I have done,” he said, beginning his remarks in the name of Allah and asking for God’s forgiveness.
“I pray to Allah to bestow his mercy upon the deceased,” he said. “I ask Allah to have mercy upon me, upon my brother, upon my family.”
Judge George O’Toole officially imposed the death sentence, which had been reached unanimously by the 12-person jury on May 15.
“I sentence you to the penalty of death by execution,” Mr O’Toole told Tsarnaev, before he was led away by US Marshals.
Throughout the trial the man who came to the United States as a child and took citizenship in 2012, sat in silence, at times fidgeting but expressing little emotion.
On Wednesday, more than 20 victims and their relatives addressed the court, making harrowing impact statements summing up their grief, pain, anger and at times forgiveness.
The first to speak was the mother of Krystle Campbell, a young woman killed in the April 15, 2013 bombings.
“The choices you made were despicable,” said Patricia Campbell, addressing Tsarnaev directly as he bowed his head.
“What you did to my daughter was disgusting. The jury did the right thing.”
Bill Richard, the father of the youngest victim, eight-year-old Martin, said he would have preferred Tsarnaev receive a life sentence but said the attacks were “all on him”.
“He chose hate. He chose destruction. He chose death,” Mr Richard said.
“We choose love. We choose kindness. We choose peace. That is what makes us different.”
Defence lawyer Judy Clarke told the court that Tsarnaev had offered to plead guilty last year, but Wednesday’s remarks were the first time that her client had expressed any public remorse.
* Agence France-Presse
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Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
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The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 720hp
Torque: 770Nm
Price: Dh1,100,000
On sale: now
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The Farewell
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Stars: Awkwafina, Zhao Shuzhen, Diana Lin, Tzi Ma
Four stars
Best Foreign Language Film nominees
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Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
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Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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TOURNAMENT INFO
Fixtures
Sunday January 5 - Oman v UAE
Monday January 6 - UAE v Namibia
Wednesday January 8 - Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 - Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid, Darius D’Silva, Karthik Meiyappan, Jonathan Figy, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Chirag Suri
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