The family of Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, sentenced on Friday for attempting to bomb the US Federal Reserve in New York, said they were shocked at the 30-year jail term handed down.
Nafis, 22, had earlier pleaded guilty to attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and admitted under oath that he intended to use a cell phone to detonate the 450kg device.
“We heard the verdict from the BBC. After hearing the verdict, Nafis' parents have become sick,” said Tawfiq Alam, Nafis's brother-in-law of.
“We are shocked because we expected a lighter jail term. We still believe he was set up. He couldn't have done this thing,” Tawfiq, a physician, said.
The stiff sentence was even more of a blow to the family as it came during the Eid al-Fitr festival marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, he said.