Joy Bennett, an Englishwoman whose son, Oli, was killed at the age of 29 in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, spoke to the Daily Mail about her feelings that Mounir el-Motassedeq, an al Qaeda terrorist who helped to finance the attacks, has been freed. An excerpt is below.
“It’s hard to put into words how it felt to look at how this man received a hero’s welcome in Marrakesh.
Of course we had known that this day was coming. At the time of el-Motassedeq’s trial in 2003, 15 years seemed a small punishment for someone who had spent time in an Al Qaeda training camp and directly organised the killers’ finances.
Naively, perhaps, we were just relieved that someone was being held to account. Though I still don’t know how the judges thought 15 years was enough. All I can say is that we, Oli’s family, got this life sentence, and are reminded of it every single day.
The parallels between this man’s future, and Oli’s lack thereof are painful.
This man’s children were thrilled to have him home. Oli never got the chance to have children. I am not a vengeful person, but it is hard to read about el-Motassedeq’s home-coming, when Oli will never come home.
My concerns aren’t just about our family’s loss and pain, though. El-Motassedeq is now a free man. Free to do what, though?
As the Mail reported yesterday, there seems to be a negligible amount of surveillance being carried out on him now. Who has responsibility for him? What moves have been made to address his radicalism?”
