The US Supreme Court agreed to consider the appeal of the Justice Department, which asked to reconsider the case of the Boston terrorist Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and restore the death sentence.

This was reported by Reuters.

The agency clarified that the judges will consider the Justice Department's appeal filed with the Supreme Court even before the end of Donald Trump's presidential term.

She challenges the decision of a lower court to hold a new trial regarding the punishment imposed on Tsarnaev for crimes of which he was found guilty and which could lead to the death penalty.

The Reuters report clarified that, "unlike the situation with some other cases pending trial," President Joe Biden's team did not intend to change the approach taken by the Trump administration in the Tsarnaev case.

Recall, on April 15, 2013, near the finish line of the annual marathon in downtown Boston, two explosions occurred with an interval of 12 seconds.

As a result of the terrorist attack, three people were killed and more than 260 were injured.

The bombs were filled with nails and other damaging elements.

A few days later, the police got on the trail of the organizers of the attack - the brothers Tamerlane and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

In addition to carrying out the terrorist attack, they were also involved in the murder of a police officer in Massachusetts.

There, during the arrest, Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed as a result of a shootout with the police.

Dzhokhar was wounded, after a few hours he was detained.

During the interrogation, he stated that the main organizer of the incident was his elder brother Tamerlane, and also that they were not associated with any terrorist groups and acted alone.

According to him, they made the explosive devices that were used in the terrorist attack themselves, following information from the Internet. 

  • Reuters

  • © Dan Lampariello

In 2015, the court found Dzhokhar Tsarnaev guilty on all 30 counts, including the murders of three marathon participants and a police officer.

By decision of the jury, he was sentenced to death by lethal injection.

In addition, the court ordered Tsarnaev to pay more than $ 101 million to the victims and relatives of those killed in the explosions.

During the announcement of the verdict, Tsarnaev confessed to the crimes committed and asked for forgiveness from the relatives of the victims.

In 2018, the convict's lawyers asked the appellate court to overturn the death sentence.

They referred to the fact that the trial took place in the same city where the attack took place.

Defenders of the terrorist said that this created a "prejudice against Tsarnaev's guilt" among the jury and thus deprived him of the right to a fair trial.

In 2020, the US Court of Appeal overturned Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's death sentence.

According to the judge, when sentencing, the court "failed" to select and screen the jury for potential bias due to the wide publicity of the case.

The panel of judges appointed a new trial over what sentence Tsarnaev should receive for the crimes committed.

Donald Trump, then the US president, reacted sharply negatively to the court's decision, calling Tsarnaev "an animal."

“As far as I know, in Boston, where this animal killed so many people during the Boston Marathon, his death sentence has just been sent back to a lower court for review, so this debate will be going on for a long time.

It's just ridiculous, "Trump said. 

He noted that hardly "anyone deserved to be executed more than Tsarnaev" and called on the federal government to demand the death penalty again as part of a retrial.

At the same time, who was at that time in the post of US Attorney General, William Barr, in an interview with Associated Press, said that he intends to obtain the death sentence for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

“We will do whatever is necessary.

We will bring the case to the Supreme Court and we will seek a death sentence, ”he stressed.

Last October, the US Department of Justice petitioned the Supreme Court to review the lower court's decision.