9/11 planner Zacarias Moussaoui recently requested the Department of Justice (DOJ) make a prisoner transfer so that he could live out the remainder of his life sentence in his native France. A letter by Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rick Scott (R-FL) urged the DOJ to deny Moussaoui's request, their text brief yet furious. "This should not be a difficult decision to make. We demand that you swiftly deny this terrorist's international transfer request."
Moussaoui infamously refused to plead during his arraignment in 2002, and during jury selection for his trial in 2006, he supposedly disrupted proceedings twice, saying, "I want to be heard. I do not want to be represented by these people"… "They are not my lawyers. I am al Qaeda. They do not represent me. They are American"… "This trial is a circus," suggesting he held no remorse for his actions.
While the exact date of his recent request to live in France is unknown, Sens. Scott and Rubio were adamant in their urging the DOJ to refuse Moussaoui's request, saying, "No consideration whatsoever should be given to this convicted terrorist's preferences for where to serve his sentence for his heinous crimes, and we demand that you swiftly deny his transfer request and force him to spend the remainder of his pathetic life imprisoned in the country he and his fellow terrorists attacked 23 years ago."
Scott and Rubio reiterated the loss of life incurred by Moussaoui and the rest of al Qaeda's actions that terrible day, saying that while the victims could not be brought back, "the tens of thousands of surviving family members of the victims should be able to expect that our government will keep Moussaoui confined in an American prison for the entirety of his life sentence without the possibility of release or transfer."
"This should not be a difficult decision to make. We demand that you swiftly deny this terrorist's international transfer request," the letter concluded.
In November, Representative Greg Steube (R-FL) introduced a bill prohibiting 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other conspirators, who have yet to face trial due to legal obstacles related to supposed torture while under U.S. custody, from receiving plea deals.
