Corbyn: Convicted terrorists should 'not necessarily' serve full sentence
Head of Labour also takes aim at Conservative gov't, says UK should not 'fuel conflicts' as in Israel, Yemen
UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Sunday that convicted terrorist should “not necessarily” serve their full sentences, news agency Reuters reported.
His remarks come after criticism was hurled at UK authorities of the early prisoner release program.
On Friday, ex-convict Usman Khan, 28, was shot dead by police during a stabbing attack on London Bridge. Before being neutralized he managed to murder two civilians and leaving three wounded.
Khan was conditionally released from jail last December after serving less than half of his 16-year sentence for terrorism.
In an interview with Sky News, the conservatives’ main opponent said “It depends on the circumstances, it depends on the sentence, but crucially it depends on what they’ve done in the prison,” referring to an early release of convicts.
On the police’s handling of the incident, Corbyn said that “I think they had no choice. They were stuck with a situation where there was a credible threat of a bomb belt around his body and it’s an awful situation for any police officer, any public servant to be put in.”
In a speech delivered in the northern English city of York, the veteran politician spoke about Britain’s arms sales policy, saying “Labour will stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen and work to end the war there, not actively support it as the Conservative government has done.
“Labour’s new internationalism means we will create a peace and conflict-prevention fund and invest an extra 400 million pounds [$513 million] to expand our diplomatic capacity and increase oversight of arms exports to ensure we’re not fueling conflicts, as in Yemen and in Israel and the Palestinian territories,” he said as quoted by Reuters.