Colombia sentences hijacker to eight years of house arrest

A Colombian court has sentenced a wheelchair-bound hijacker to eight years of house arrest after he threatened to bomb an airplane, said court officials on Friday.

Porfirio Ramirez, 42, managed to take hand grenades onto the plane from the southern city of Florencia to southwest Neiva on Sept. 12. He threatened to detonate them unless the authorities agreed to talk with him on compensations for a police shoot-out that disabled him.

Ramirez's 17-year-old son also took part in the hijacking, but he was freed by the court because his father took full responsibility for the attack.

Judge Jairo Acosta said Ramirez might have received a 40-year sentence for the crime. However, he said Ramirez's failing health and statements of 21 passengers aboard the hijacked flight had propelled the court to consider a minor punishment.

He said prosecutors have decided that the crime was committed out of "rage and pain" caused by the defendant's lost mobility.

The United States launched extradition proceedings against Ramirez in September citing the fact that a US citizen was traveling on the plane.

Source: Xinhua