Three years after the Manchester suicide bombing, British justice delivered its verdict on Thursday August 20: Hashem Abedi was sentenced to life with a minimum of 55 years in prison for helping his brother, the suicide bomber, prepare the explosion.

Brought to court from Belmarsh high security prison, the accused refused to go to the room where the sentencing took place and where relatives of the victims came. He was not legally represented, having dismissed the team of lawyers providing his defense.

In March, 23-year-old Hashem Abedi was convicted by the Old Bailey Criminal Court of the murders of 22 people killed in the attack claimed by the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) and carried out outside of venue where American pop star Ariana Grande had just performed.

The young Briton of Libyan origin was also found guilty of attempted murder and conspiracy to endanger the lives of others.

The accused was not facing actual life imprisonment as he was under 21 at the time of the attack. It "would have constituted a fair sentence", however, estimated Judge Jeremy Baker in rendering his verdict.

According to him, the accused is "as guilty" as his brother of the "atrocious crimes" committed. "This is not a fortuitous event but the product of careful and thorough planning," he explained, describing Hashem Abedi as a "clever young man". He judged as "a strongly aggravating factor" the fact that a young public was "specifically targeted" by the attack.

In a statement released after the sentencing was issued, Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the attack "a terrifying and cowardly act targeting children and families." He assured that the victims would "never be forgotten, just like the spirit of the people of Manchester who have come together to send a clear message to the whole world that terrorists will never win."

Hashem Abedi's brother, Salman, detonated his bomb on May 22, 2017 in Manchester (northern England) at the exit of a concert hall that can accommodate up to 21,000 people. Twenty-two people were killed, including teenagers and a child.

The ordeal of the victims

At the time of the attack, Hashem Abedi was thousands of kilometers from Manchester, Libya, his home country, where he had left a month before the attack. He was finally arrested on July 17, 2019 on his arrival in London, after being extradited by Libya.

In addition to the 22 people killed, "237 were physically injured", including 28 very seriously, had underlined the prosecutor Duncan Penny during his trial and "a total of 670 people were traumatized psychologically". Family members of the victims or survivors attended the two days of hearings preceding the sentence, in the room or by video conference.

With tears in their eyes, some described their ordeal. "You took something more precious than gold from me, a beautiful boy," the accused mother of Liam Curry, 19, said, holding a picture of her son. "You took her future, my future, the future of my family."

Clair Booth, who survived, unlike her sister Kelly Brewster, 32, said she couldn't "go anywhere on her own, even to a store."

Figen Murray, whose son Martyn Hett, 29, was killed, said he was now unable to go to bed after 10:31 p.m., the time of the explosion: "I still can't accept the fact that I was deeply asleep while my son lay dead on the ground, and I'm ashamed of it. "

"Losing one of my children killed me - I am dead," said Samantha Leczkowski who, despite her injuries, had tried in vain to rescue her 14-year-old daughter. "I must have seen Sorrell die in my arms," ​​she said in a statement read to the hearing.

With AFP and Reuters

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