Hamadi Gets Life for TWA Hijacking, Murder

A court on Wednesday convicted Mohammed Ali Hamadi of air piracy and murder in the killing of a U.S. sailor in the 1985 hijacking of a TWA jetliner and sentenced him to the maximum term allowable under West German law--life imprisonment.

The parents of slain Navy diver Robert Dean Stethem, Patricia and Richard Stethem of Port Tobacco, Md., sat silently facing Hamadi as Chief Judge Heiner Mueckenberger delivered the verdict and sentence. Later, the Stethems indicated that a “more severe” punishment should have been imposed.

West Germany has no death penalty, and Peter Korneck, one of the prosecutors, said Hamadi will be eligible for a parole review in 15 years. Hamadi’s lawyers said they plan to appeal the sentence.

Before reading the verdict, the judge recalled Hamadi’s troubled life in Beirut as the defendant, his beard neatly trimmed, sat with his eyes downcast behind two walls of bullet-proof glass in the courtroom at Frankfurt’s Preungesheim maximum-security prison.

“The accused is found guilty of collective murder in connection with air piracy, hostage-taking and causing serious bodily harm as well as the illegal import of explosives in one case while using forged documents,” the judge ruled. “He is sentenced to life-long imprisonment as a total sentence.”

Prosecutors last week requested a life sentence for Hamadi, a Lebanese Shiite Muslim who confessed that he and a still-at-large accomplice hijacked TWA Flight 847 with 153 people aboard en route from Athens to Rome on June 14, 1985. But Hamadi denied he had killed Stethem. One American aboard, Peter Hill, testified that Hamadi, holding a 9-millimeter Beretta pistol, told him in English, “This is the gun” that killed Stethem.

Mueckenberger said the court was unable to decide who actually shot Stethem. “But the defendant knowingly and willingly participated in Stethem’s killing and actively took part in its preparation,” he said.

The hijackers had demanded freedom for 700 Shiite Muslim prisoners held by Israel. The 17-day ordeal ended after Israel agreed to the phased release of the prisoners who were captured in fighting in southern Lebanon.

After the verdict, Stethem’s father said: “We praise the court’s efforts and hope this conviction will stand as an example and encouragement to other countries to decisively deal with terrorists.

“Our family maintains Mohammed Ali Hamadi deserves punishment more severe than allowable under German law,” he said, adding that any commutation of Hamadi’s sentence would be a “pure mockery of justice.”

In Washington, White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said Hamadi’s sentence “satisfies the demand for justice.”

Regarding speculation that Hamadi’s sentence might be commuted in a trade for hostages in Lebanon, Fitzwater said, “We expect Hamadi will serve the full sentence in accord with German law.”

In the TWA hijacking, Hamadi apparently was acting on behalf of Hezbollah, the shadowy fundamentalist terror group that backs Iran’s leader, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Judge Mueckenberger said “the court assumes” Hamadi would rejoin Hezbollah “if he was set free today.” Mueckenberger added that it could be assumed “the accused will consider the sentence an injustice, but the will of God.”

The judge said the “hijackers had used the utmost brutality” on the TWA passengers, and he praised Stethem as “a model U.S. serviceman--tall, strong, good looking and soldier-like in his deportment.

“He was less ready than other passengers to yield to the hijackers.”

Testimony revealed that Stethem, 23, was severely beaten, then “executed” and his body thrown on the tarmac in Beirut when authorities refused the hijackers’ demands for fuel for the jetliner.

Hamadi quietly listened as Mueckenberger told him, through a translator, that he had a right to appeal. He left the courtroom with his eyes downcast.

American observers closely watched the 63 days of proceedings, which began in July, 1988, after West Germany rejected a U.S. request to extradite Hamadi for fear of reprisals against two West German businessmen held in Lebanon at the time. Bonn’s refusal in 1987 to grant extradition caused a rift with the United States.

TRAIL OF TERROR

Following is a chronology of the case of Mohammed Ali Hamadi, sentenced to life in prison Wednesday for hijacking a TWA airliner in 1985 and participating in the killing of a U.S. sailor aboard the flight.

June 14, 1985: Muslim gunmen commandeer TWA Flight 847 carrying 153 passengers and crew, mostly Americans, from Athens to Rome and order the plane to Beirut. Flown on to Algiers, hijackers demanded that Israel release 700 Shiite Muslim prisoners and threaten to execute hostages; 40 passengers freed.

June 15, 1985: U.S. Navy diver Robert Dean Stethem is slain when flight lands in Beirut for second time; 20 passengers freed.

June 30, 1985: Last 39 American hostages freed.

Jan. 15, 1987: Mohammed Ali Hamadi is arrested at Frankfurt Airport while trying to smuggle explosives into West Germany.

Jan. 17, 1987: West German Rudolf Cordes abducted in Beirut.

Jan. 21, 1987: West German Alfred Schmidt abducted in Beirut; kidnapers demand Hamadi’s release.

June 24, 1987: West Germany turns down U.S. request for Hamadi’s extradition; kidnapers had threatened to kill West German hostages if Hamadi was extradited.

July 5, 1985: Hamadi’s trial opens in Frankfurt.

Sept. 7, 1987: Schmidt freed.

Sept. 12, 1988: Cordes freed.

May 17, 1989: Hamadi sentenced to life imprisonment for hijacking and participating in killing of Stethem.