(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – A large majority of people in the United States think that, if five men accused of participating in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, are found guilty by a federal court, they should be sentenced to death, according to a poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion. 69 per cent of respondents share this opinion.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – A large majority of people in the United States think that, if five men accused of participating in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, are found guilty by a federal court, they should be sentenced to death, according to a poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion. 69 per cent of respondents share this opinion.
Al-Qaeda operatives hijacked and crashed four airplanes on U.S. soil on Sept. 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people.
Current U.S. president Barack Obama has vowed to close the U.S. detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where about 400 "enemy combatants", including some people accused of playing a role in the 9/11 attacks, have been detained since 2002.
On Oct. 20, the U.S. Senate voted 79-19 to allow the 223 prisoners currently held at the Guantanamo Bay detention center to be brought to the U.S. to face civilian or military trials.
On Nov. 13, U.S. attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr. announced that five Guantanamo prisoners accused of participating in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, including alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, will face trial in a federal courtroom based in New York City.
Holder declared: "Today’s announcement marks a significant step forward in our efforts to close Guantanamo and to bring to justice those individuals who have conspired to attack our nation and our interests abroad."
On Nov. 19, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani disagreed with Holder’s decision, declaring, "The reality is that [the alleged conspirators] could be tried in a military tribunal. There is no reason to try them in a civilian court. Others are going to be tried in the military tribunal. And the reality is we’ve never done this before. And this is something that was pushed very, very hard by the left wing for President Obama to do and he’s been criticized for delaying in doing it."
Polling Data
If the five people accused of involvement in the 9/11 terrorist attacks are found guilty, which of these options would you prefer?
|
Death penalty |
69% |
|
Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole |
22% |
|
Not sure |
9% |
Source: Angus Reid Public Opinion
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,006 American adults, conducted on Nov. 17 and Nov. 18, 2009. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.
