Jeremiah Adebolajo, Brother of Michael Adebolajo, sentenced to life for the murder of Lee Rigby, has said today that the decision to give his sibling a whole life prison sentence was unjust and Islamophobic, the Daily Mail reports.
Jeremiah Adebolajo believes Michael Adebolajo should not be forced to die behind bars and claims the judge in his Old Bailey trial caved in to ‘pressure’ after ‘gave the public what they wanted’.
Adebolajo was given the longest possible sentence because the judge believed he had no hope of rehabilitation, but his brother said today if released he would ‘pose no danger to the public’ and ‘lead a very productive life were he to be released’.
Today Jeremiah Adebolajo, who like his brother is a Muslim convert, told the BBC Radio 5 Live today that his sibling was unfairly treated.
He compared his brother’s case to that of Pavlo Lapshyn, who was jailed for 40 years for killing a man and planning to bomb three mosques to start a ‘race war’ in Britain.
Pavlo Lapshyn was sentenced to a minimum of 40yrs for killing Mohammed Saleem (pictured below) and planning a series of bombings
Mohammed Saleem, 82
‘It seems strange to me that a man can be sentenced to (whole) life for the death of one man and another can be sentenced to 40 years for the death of one and the attempted murder of many others,’ he told Victoria Derbyshire of the BBC.
‘I wonder what the difference is here, aside from the guilty plea, aside from that I see that someone has died in both cases.
‘It seems strange that Justice Sweeney can suggest there is no prospect of rehabilitation for my brother but there is for the Ukrainian man who openly stated he wanted to start a race war.
‘Yes (it is Islamophobic). Not only that I think it was trial by the public. There was a lot of public outrage, as could be understood. The death of a soldier in any country would provoke that, but I would suggest that Justice Sweeney was giving in to that pressure’.
Jeremiah Adebolajo also said his brother should not have been tried for murder.
‘Lee Rigby was performing a public service. It would have been more fitting, I think, that my brother, a British citizen, be charged with treason for killing a soldier. It is the first time that a man has killed another man and been sentenced to a whole life tariff,’ he said.
When asked if he should one day be released he said: ‘I believe my brother would lead a very productive life were he to be released. Were he to be rehabilitated I think he would lead a productive life – I think it’s important not to forget that he has young children himself.’
The BBC interviewer also asked him if he had sympathy for Lee Rigby’s family, but would only be drawn on his son Jack.
‘I have a tremendous amount of sympathy towards the son of Lee Rigby who will grow up without a father, and I think my brother does too’.
Jeremiah Adebolajo concentrated on the case of Ukrainian white supremacist, Pavlo Lapshyn, 25, who murdered a Muslim pensioner and bombed three mosques as he waged a one-man race war in Britain.
Just five days after arriving in the country last year he killed Mohammed Saleem by stabbing him three times from behind as the 82-year-old made his way home from evening prayers.
Lapshyn also admitted causing an explosion on July 12 near the Kanzal Iman mosque in Tipton, and engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts between April 24 and July 18 this year.
This included planting bombs near mosques in Walsall and Wolverhampton, researching locations to plant bombs and buying chemicals on the internet to make explosives.
