Palestinian convicted of killing Robert Kennedy approved for parole

By Ibrahim Mukhtar

ANKARA (AA) – A California parole panel has recommended the release of Sirhan B. Sirhan, the Palestinian man convicted of killing US Senator Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, the Washington Post reported.

The panel voted on Friday that Sirhan, who has spent more than 50 years in prison, no longer posed a threat to the society.

Speaking to two parole commissioners in his 16th parole hearing, Sirhan said he is not that “young, impulsive kid” anymore.

“Senator Kennedy was the hope of the world and I injured, and I harmed all of them, and it pains me to experience that, the knowledge for such a horrible deed,” he said.

Before his assassination, Kennedy, who was also the younger brother of former US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, was a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Sirhan’s release, however, will have to be approved by the full parole board for 120 days for it to be final. Thereafter, the California Governor Gavin Newsom “will have 30 days to uphold the decision, reverse it or send it back to the board”, according to the Washington Post.

Kennedy’s son Douglas H. Kennedy told The Associated Press that he welcomed Sirhan’s parole since the culprit is “not a threat to themselves or the world”, adding that Sirhan’s remorse “deeply” affected him.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., another Kennedy’s son, said after the ruling that his father “would be really happy” because he believed in compassion.

However, six other children of the slain senator condemned the ruling, saying it ignored “the standards of parole of a confessed, first-degree murderer in the state of California.” They said they were “devastated” and “shocked” by the decision promising to “adamantly” oppose it.

“We are in disbelief that this man would be recommended for release,” they said.

Meanwhile, Paul Schrade, who was one of five people wounded in the shooting in which Kennedy was killed said he was “pleased” with the ruling as he believed Sirhan shot him but not Kennedy.

He said Sirhan “didn’t deserve all of the very bad behavior from the prison system,” in reference to the repeated parole denials. “He was innocent and didn’t deserve this for 53 years.”

On June 5, 1968, Kennedy was mortally wounded by Sirhan who fired a 22-caliber pistol at him after giving a midnight speech at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles following his announcement as the winner of the California Democratic presidential primary. Kennedy died the next day.

Sirhan, a Palestinian Christian, reportedly hated and gunned Kennedy for his support of US military aid to Israel.