- The Washington Times - Monday, February 18, 2013

A terrorist serving life in prison plus 240 years for his role in masterminding the World Trade Center bombing in 1993 that killed six and injured more than 1,000 has now filed a lawsuit to get out of solitary confinement.

Ramzi Yousef has spent 15 years in Colorado’s “Fortress in the Rockies” prison, almost all of it in solitary confinement, according to Fox News. He is arguing that the solitary has led to “severe psychological trauma” and that he should be placed back in general population, the report continued.

“I request an immediate end to my solitary confinement and ask to be in a unit in an open prison environment where inmates are allowed outside their cells for no less than 14 hours a day,” he wrote, according to confidential government documents given to The Los Angeles Times. “I have been in solitary confinement in the U.S. since Feb. 8, 1995, with no end in sight.”

Mr. Yousef also requests that his handcuffs and leg irons be removed during times spent outside his cell, according to the report.

Mr. Yousef was also convicted of murder plots against Pope John Paul II and President Clinton, and of planning to bomb planes.

• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.

Copyright © 2024 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.

Please read our comment policy before commenting.