LAHORE, Pakistan—The Pakistani government is seeking life imprisonment for five young Americans convicted of plotting terrorist attacks and sentenced to 10 years each in jail, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
The Lahore High Court accepted a petition Monday to consider a life sentence, said Rana Bakhtiar, deputy prosecutor general in Punjab province, where Lahore is the capital.
A standard life sentence in Pakistan is 25 years.
“I have appealed to the court that they deserve life imprisonment,” said Bakhtiar. “Once they are out, they could be very dangerous for Pakistan.”
The Lahore High Court is also scheduled to hear an appeal by the defense for the Americans’ convictions to be overturned.
The five men from the Washington, D.C. area were arrested in the Pakistani city of Sargodha last December and convicted in June.
Prosecutors said evidence proved the men used the Internet to plot terror attacks and meet militant organizations in Pakistan. Defense lawyers said the evidence was faked and the men were innocent.
The men have been identified as Ramy Zamzam of Egyptian descent; Waqar Khan and Umar Farooq of Pakistani descent; and Aman Hassan Yemer and Ahmed Minni of Ethiopian descent.
They range in age from late teens to mid 20s.
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