Afghan villagers say life sentence too light for US soldier who slew 16 civilians
Villagers say Robert Bales, who killed 16 of their relatives, should have been sentenced to death
Afghan villagers who travelled to the United States to testify against soldier Robert Bales say they are far from satisfied with his life sentence for massacring 16 of their relatives.
A military jury on Friday sentenced the 40-year-old to life in prison without the possibility of release for his pre-dawn raids in Kandahar province in March 2012. It was the severest punishment possible after he pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty.
A total of nine Afghans were flown to the Joint Base Lewis-McChord military installation in Washington state to be present as Bales was sentenced.
Haji Wazeer, who saw 11 members of his family killed by Bales, led the calls for the soldier to be put to death.
"We were brought all the way here from Afghanistan to see if justice would be served, but not in our way," he said. "Justice was served the American way. We wanted this murderer to be executed but we didn't get our wish.
"He only got a life sentence without parole, but I'm asking average Americans right here - if somebody jumps into your house in the middle of the night, kills 11 members of your family and tries to burn them, what sort of punishment would you be passing on that person?"
Bales' mother bowed her head, rocked in her seat and wept as the sentence was read.