Man Acquitted in Kahane Death Is Put in Isolation

The man acquitted of killing extremist Rabbi Meir Kahane but who was sentenced to prison for other shootings has been placed in isolation because of alleged death threats, his wife said Friday.

“Why is he being punished because of these death threats?” asked El Sayyid Nosair’s American-born wife, who converted to Islam and uses the name Khadijah.

Speaking from a secret location in New York, she said that Nosair, 36, was being confined to a cell 23 hours a day and has been forbidden to watch television, read a newspaper or make telephone calls to her. In addition, she said her husband was not permitted to attend Muslim prayers at the prison.

A spokesman for the state corrections commission said the department was not aware of any death threats against Nosair.

“He was placed in administrative segregation for his own protection and because of the notoriety of his crime,” the spokesman said.

Nosair was sentenced last month to 7 1/3 to 22 years in prison for shooting and wounding a postal worker and another man on Nov. 5, 1990, soon after Kahane was shot and killed at a midtown New York hotel.