Red Army man sentenced to 30 years in jail

Press, 9 February 1989, Page 8

Red Army man sentenced to 30 years in jail

NZPA-Reuter Newark, New Jersey A member of the extremist Japanese Red Army who was allegedly out to avenge the American bombing of Libya has been sentenced to 30 years in jail. Yu Kikumura complained bitterly that his rights were being violated just before his sentence was read out on Tuesday.

Prosecutors said Kikumura, aged 34, planned to bomb a United States Government complex in New York on April 14, 1988, the second anniversary of the Libyan raid. He was arrested with a carload of bombs and explosives two days earlier. Judge Alfrpd Lechner, jun., called Kikumura an international terrorist and

said he must serve at least 25 of the 30 year sentence before being eligible for parole. He is to be deported on his release from prison. Judge Lechner told Kikumura, who refused to rise to hear the judge’s words, “You planned to kill and injure scores of people. That is what you intended to do, murder and maim people for no apparent reason except because they are Americans.

“There is only one conclusion to draw from the type of bombs you had. They were designed for the destruction of flesh and blood, n,ot bricks and mortar.”

Before the judge handed down the sentence, Kikumura broke his silence and told the

Court, “I denounce the Government of the United States for the illegal handling of my case. They have used my case to justify an attack on the Government and people of Libya.

“I came to the United States because of my own intentions. I am not linked to Libya, the United States has fabricated stories about Libya in order to justify its own attacks on Libya.” Kikumura complained, “All my telephone conversations with my attorneys were listened into, in violation of the Constitution of the United States.”

As he spoke he stared at the prosecutor, Samuel Alito. In his statement to the court, Kikumura never gave any explanation for

his actions. Mr Alito said Kikumura was willing to inflict death and injury and added, “ ‘Terrorist’ is a good word to describe you.”

Prosecutors said the attack was aimed to coincide with the bombing of an American servicemen’s club in Naples on April 14, 1988, in which five people were killed. But Kikumura, said by the United States Government to have been trained at a camp for “terrorists” in Lebanon, never got further than a rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike. He was arrested there by a policeman who thought he was acting suspiciously. Defence lawyers said they would appeal the sentence and said the judge should resign.