USA: Anti-death penalty campaigners beg for Boston Bombing case mercy

Anti-death penalty campaigners gathered outside the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse in Boston on Wednesday, as Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is set to be formally sentenced inside. Protesters carried signs reading 'Why do we kill people who kill people to show that killing people is wrong?' - and sang songs calling for mercy for Tsarnaev. Victims of the attack also arrived at the court for the sentencing. The death penalty in Massachusetts was officially abolished in 1984. However, Tsarnaev was tried under federal law, which allows for executions. On May 15, 2015, a Federal jury recommended that Tsarnaev be sentenced to death; the decree is expected to be ratified by the judge at Wednesday's sentencing. Three people were killed and 264 were injured on April 15, 2013, in which Tsarnaev and his brother, Tamerlan, allegedly detonated bombs near the finish line. A manhunt ensued, during which a police officer and Tamerlan Tsarnaev were killed. Tsarnaev is likely to end up on the US Bureau of Prison's death row in Terra Haute, Indiana, where he is expected to embark on an appeal process that could last years.