LET THEM ROT IN HELL JAIL
Murdered aid worker’s widow in plea to the US Accused jihadis face life in supermax prison
the British jihadis accused of beheading aid worker david haines will suffer more in jail than being sentenced to death, his widow has claimed.
Dragana Haines said sending Alexanda Kotey and El-Shafee el-Sheikh to a “supermax” jail in the United States would be a tougher verdict than capital punishment.
The 50-year-old added: “The death penalty would be too
quick.”
The widow of tragic David Haines says sending the British jihadis accused of murdering the aid worker to a notorious US jail would be tougher than the death penalty.
Dragana Haines said a deal thrashed out between authorities in the UK and America will lead to a“lifetime of suffering” for Alexanda Kotey, 36, and El-Shafee el-Sheikh, 32 in a “supermax” prison.
Dragana, 50, who lives in Croatia with the couple’s 10-yearold daughter Athea, said :“I’ d always considered myself against the death penalty but, after what happened to David, I thought long and hard about it.
“But since a decision has been made that Kotey and el-Sheikh won’t face it, I’ve started to think their new fate might be even worse than death.
“A lifetime in a US supermax prison will be a fitting place for them. The death penalty would be too quick.
“The people they’ve hurt and families dealing with lost loved ones will have a lifetime of dealing with the consequences – I think it’s fitting they face one just as bad.”
The pair – facing multiple life sentences for their part in 27 deaths – are accused of being part of an Islamic State terror cell dubbed “The Beatles” because of their English accents.
They allegedly beheaded two British captives – including David – and three hree American prisoners in Syria.
It was confirmed last week that the suspects will stand trial in the US for the murders after the Supreme Court in London lifted a ban that stopped the UK sharing evidence with America.
The move came when the US pledged it would not pursue capital punishment charges against the men, , who are being held in a military y compound in Iraq.
Kotey and el- Sheikh – dubbed d George and Ringo – have admitted d being Isis f ighters but denied killing hostages, including David. In March, the Supreme Court said assisting a death penalty trial would have been “unlawful” after el-Sheikh’s mother Maha Elgizouli challenged then home secretary Sajid Javid’s decision to share information with the US. It said providing evidence to be used in such a prosecution breached the duo’s human rights.
However, the court did a U-turn last week after US attorney general Bill Barr announced the pair would not be executed if convicted – permitting the Home Office to hand over its data. Instead, the jihadis, who grew up in London, are facing a lifetime in a supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, called ADX Florence, if found guilty.
Its notorious inmates include shoe bomber Richard Reid, hate preacher Abu Hamza, Mexican drug cartel boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman as well as US terrorist Ted Kaczynski, known as “the Unabomber”.
The jail – dubbed the “Alcatraz of the Rockies” – has some of the harshest prison conditions in the world. About 410 inmates face up to 23 hours in solitary conf inement each day in a cramped 12ft by 7ft cell.
Bland meals are eaten on their own and prisoners are only on allowed out from their cell to exexercise in a “recreation cage” ca for one hour a day. The windowless, br i ck bu i lding is protected pro by razor-wire fencesfen patrol led by attack at ta dogs and heavily arm edarm guards. Since it was builtb in the late 80s, no oneon has ever escaped. Convicts Con sleep on thin mattresses mattr on top of a concreteconcr slab. And the TV TV in the room only shows careful ly picked programmes, progra when it is allowed to be on.
InmatesInmat get three showers
a week and, if they show the slightest sign of misbehaviour, their TV set is removed, even though they pay for it.
Prisoners in ADX Florence are allowed just one phone call a month for 15 minutes.
Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have complained that about 70 per cent of inmates have developed mental health issues after spending so long on their own.
London-born Kotey and el- Sheikh, who was born in Sudan, are expected to end up in the H-Hut section of the prison.
The special H- Security Unit is reserved for prisoners whose communications with the outside world demand the strictest controls. Some don’t even see any guards.
Former ADX warden Robert Hood has described the facility as “worse than death”, saying: “I don’t know if anyone deserves to be in a place like this.”
But Dragana added: “Sending Kotey and el-Sheikh to this supermax jail will be the closest to justice we’ll ever get.
“I’ve shut my eyes and tried to imagine what it would be like to spend time there, even for just a few hours. It’ll be like a never-ending horror movie for them.
“They’ll be in great company in that jail with some of the world’s most evil people, even if they won’t see each other. And that str ikes me as the perfect place for them.
“They ’ ve never shown any signs of remorse for what the y ’ ve done to families like ours.”
The pair’s victims are also alleged to include Americans James Foley, Steven Sot lof f and Peter Kassig, as well as British aid worker Alan Henning and British journalist John Cantlie, who is missing presumed dead.
Kotey said in an interview last year: “I would not want to spend time in a prison in the US. That would not be good. That would be the worst thing that could happen.”
Dragana, who has been battling breast cancer since 2017, added: “I’m glad they are afraid. I’d love to be able to look them in the eye when justice is served but won’t be able to afford to go to the trial in the US.
“My daughter is 10 now. She understands that her dad was ki l led but sti l l doesn’t know everything about it.
“It’s very hard to even start trying to explain.
“She will spend a lifetime dealing with the consequences of her dad’s death. They should too.”
Aid worker David, 44, who grew up in Perth, spent more than a year in captivity after being kidnapped in Syria.
He was beheaded by British jihadi Mohammed Emwazi – known as Jihadi John – in 2014.
Emwazi was tracked down and killed by a US drone strike in November 2015 in Raqqa, Syria.
Aine Davis, the last so- called Beatle aka Paul, is being held in a Turkish jail.