(ANSA) - WASHINGTON, 14 JAN - Sirhan Sirhan, the killer of Robert Kennedy, remains in prison. Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, has denied the granting of parole. The decision despite recommendations from the California Parole Board and despite Kennedy's two sons, Robert and Douglas, having expressed a favorable opinion. The rest of the Kennedy family remains opposed.
Sirhan, 77, a Jordanian of Palestinian origin, has been in prison for 53 years. Bob Kennedy, brother of Jfk, was killed in March '68 in the kitchen of the Hotel Ambassador in Los Angeles after an election campaign event.
Birhan was initially sentenced to the death penalty, but this was converted to life in prison in 1972, after the California Supreme Court ruled the penultimate capital unconstitutional.
Governor Newsom has never hidden that he is a great admirer of the figure of Bob Kennedy, calling him his "political hero".
"After decades of imprisonment - he wrote motivating his decision - the detainee has failed to address the shortcomings that led him to assassinate Senator Kennedy. Mr. Sirhan lacks that discernment that could prevent him from carrying out the same kind of dangerous actions in the past".
(HANDLE).