AN AMERICAN OFFICER who killed 13 fellow soldiers in a rampage on a military base has been found guilty of premediated murder, and now faces a possible death sentence.
The verdict against 42-year-old Major Nidal Hasan was handed down by a US military jury after a court martial at Fort Hood, Texas, the site of his 2009 shooting spree.
The trial had heard that Hasan, a Muslim, had been in contact with a leading Al-Qaeda figure and had attacked his comrades out of opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Hasan chose to defend himself during the hearings, and openly declared that he had carried out the killings. The trial will now move into a sentencing phase.
His refusal to engage with the court — he called no witnesses and refused to make a closing statement — has fuelled suspicions that he is actively seeking the death penalty.
On November 5, 2009, Hasan opened fire at a medical processing facility in the sprawling Fort Hood base that serves as a staging point for soldiers to deploy to combat zones.
Twelve of the deceased and 30 of the wounded were soldiers. Hasan was himself shot by a civilian police officer who responded to the attack and he is now partially paralyzed.
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