NEW YORK (Reuters) – The father of a man convicted of killing eight people in a 2017 attack on a lower Manhattan bike path wept on the witness stand on Thursday at the death penalty phase of his son’s trial, saying he still loved him despite what he did.
A jury last month found Uzbekistan-born Sayfullo Saipov guilty of murder and terrorism charges for driving a rented U-Haul truck onto the path alongside the Hudson River with the goal of joining the militant group Islamic State, also known as ISIS.
Federal prosecutors say Saipov, 35, deserves to be executed because the United States has designated Islamic State a terrorist organization, and because he has shown no remorse. The defense calls the death penalty barbaric and has urged the jury to vote instead for life in prison.
The defense called Habibulloh Saipov, who lives in Uzbekistan, to testify on his son’s behalf after prosecutors rested their case.
When asked by a defense lawyer whether he still loved his son, Habibulloh Saipov wept and said, “With all my heart.”
He said his son’s life would still have meaning to him if he spent the rest of his days in prison because it would give him time to come to terms with what he had done.
“Also, it’s important for his kids to know that their father is still alive,” Habibulloh Saipov said through an interpreter.
If sentenced to life, Sayfullo Saipov would be sent to a Supermax prison in Colorado.
Sayfullo Saipov looked down at the floor as his father walked past the defense bench after ending his testimony.
As he exited the courtroom, an audience member identified by the defense as Habibulloh Saipov’s brother yelled in Uzbek and slammed a wall. The courtroom interpreter said the man had said, “Dirty ISIS bastards.”
U.S. District Judge Vernon Broderick instructed the jury to ignore the outburst.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
