TUNIS: The US embassy in Tunis said yesterday that it was “deeply troubled” by the leniency of two-year suspended sentences handed out to 20 people implicated in an attack on the mission.
“We are deeply troubled by reports of suspended sentences. The verdicts do not correspond appropriately to the extent and severity of the damage and violence that took place on September 14, 2012,” the embassy said in a statement.
“We maintain that a full investigation must be undertaken and those who organised the attack and remain at large should be brought to justice,” it added.
Hundreds of angry Islamist protesters attacked the US mission in Tunis on September 14 after an American-made film mocking their religion was published on the Internet. Four of the assailants were killed and dozens wounded in the attack, which saw protesters storm the embassy and torch a American school.
A court in Tunis on Tuesday gave 20 people two-year suspended prison sentences for their part in the attack, according to their lawyer Anouar Ouled Ali. The main charges against them, however, which included premeditated attacks organised by an armed gang, carried sentences ranging from five years in jail to possible death penalties. AFP
