LONDON: The aunt of the convicted terrorist and killer of British MP David Amess says he should be given the death penalty for his crime.
Ali Harbi Ali was given a life sentence for the murder of Conservative politician Amess, who was stabbed more than 20 times during a constituency surgery in October last year.
“I am sorry for the late MP’s family, for the painful death of a father, husband and MP,” Ali’s aunt Anab Abdulle told the Daily Mail.
“But for Ali Harbi Ali, he should be given a death sentence since he is a confirmed terrorist, he brought this upon himself and should face the consequences.”
Speaking from Nairobi, Abdulle said Ali was a star pupil with plans to work in medicine, but his parents’ separation affected him badly.
“The parents have long been upset by the changes in him, it is unfortunate that they did not report him in time,” she added.
Ali had enrolled in a radiotherapy course at London’s City University in 2014, but dropped out with plans to join Daesh fighters in Syria.
“(His mother) suspected her son had joined the group through one of his friends early last year but she was scared to report it to police,” Abdulle said.
Ali was referred to the British government’s de-radicalization scheme “Prevent,” but was deemed to pose no risk of terrorist activity and was discharged in 2015.
Abdulle said he had expressed a desire to travel to Syria and fight as recently as 2019, and urged police to track down his friends who reportedly did travel there.
“He is likely to have joined extremists in 2019, which explains why he wanted to travel then,” she added. “At least one friend of his has travelled to join extremists.”
