The American judiciary decided late last Friday, California time, or early today according to Arab time, to release what is described as the most famous and oldest Palestinian prisoner in the world, Sirhan Bishara Sirhan, who has been incarcerated for 53 years in a San Diego prison for the assassination of an American senator on June 5, 1968. Polls had predicted that Democratic Senator Robert Kennedy would win the upcoming presidential election scheduled for November of that year when he was shot four times by Sirhan shortly after delivering a speech at a campaign rally at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.
Within minutes, Sirhan was arrested at the scene of the assassination. He was tried and sentenced to death in 1969, a sentence that was later commuted in 1972 to life imprisonment following California's abolition of the death penalty. During his years in prison, Sirhan, an unmarried man who does not hold American citizenship but only Jordanian citizenship, would submit petitions for release every five years.
According to a report published by "Al Arabiya" yesterday, a new development arose concerning a petition submitted by his lawyer yesterday requesting conditional release, which was that the U.S. prosecution had, for the first time, not announced its opposition to his release, as it had done in 15 previous petitions.
Yesterday, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon announced that he would not oppose Sirhan's release if the California Parole Board members chose to approve it. He clarified that despite his admiration for Robert Kennedy, who was killed at the age of 42, he maintains the view that "the prosecution should not have a role in such cases." Thus, a panel comprising two individuals made the decision for his release, typically issued on the day the hearing is held, after which the board members would have 90 days to review the decision and submit a modified decision to the state governor.
According to several American media outlets and agencies that broadcast comments from Sirhan's lawyer Angela Berry, the release decision "is based on who Sirhan is today, not on what happened in the past." It was supported by the notion that his exemplary record in prison and lack of threat to anyone warranted his release, which occurred yesterday.
The Los Angeles District Attorney is not the only one who did not oppose Sirhan's release this time; Douglas Kennedy, the youngest son of the slain senator, also appeared in court yesterday and supported the release decision. He stated that he was young when his father was killed but expressed tears over Sirhan's supposed remorse. "He should be released if he is found not to pose a threat to others. I have lived my life in fear of him and his name in one way or another. I am grateful today to see him as a human being deserving of compassion and love," he said.
After Douglas finished speaking, Sirhan looked at him and smiled in appreciation for what he had said, as inferred by "Al Arabiya" from a report published by ABC News about the proceeding. Sirhan is set to be deported to Jordan following his release.
However, a report from the New York Times clarified that the court's decision means there is a recommendation for his release but does not mean he is free yet, so the decision is now in the hands of the California governor.
The ABC News report also mentioned that Robert Barton, a commissioner on the parole board, stated that some members of the Kennedy family and law enforcement officials in Los Angeles "expressed their opposition to Sirhan's release at the outset of the proceedings, given that he had previously admitted to being angry over Kennedy's support for Israel." When asked in yesterday's session about the current situation in the Middle East, he broke down in tears and could not speak, to which Barton said, "Take a deep breath." Sirhan responded that he does not follow what is happening in the region but thinks about the suffering of refugees, and that he intends to distance himself from the conflict in the Middle East.
Sirhan Bishara Sirhan was born in occupied Jerusalem 77 years ago and emigrated with his parents and four siblings to the United States at the age of 12. He assassinated Kennedy on the anniversary of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan’s defeat in the 1967 Six-Day War against Israel. Robert Kennedy, who left behind nine children and a widow who is still alive at 93 years old, is the brother of President John Kennedy, who was assassinated five years prior.
