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Boston bombing suspect Tsarnaev pleads not guilty
  • | France24 | July 11, 2013 10:02 AM
Accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to setting off a pair of home-made pressure-cooker bombs along with his brother at the race's crowded finish on April 15.
Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Wednesday pleaded not guilty on all charges in connection with the April attacks, some of which could carry the death penalty.

Tsarnaev, making his first court appearance, entered the federal courtroom in Boston in handcuffs, shackles and wearing an orange jumpsuit.

"Not guilty," said the 19-year-old ethnic Chechen, as the 30 counts against him - 17 of which carry the death penalty - were read out at the arraignment, which lasted seven minutes.

The room was packed with emotional victims of the bombings at the Boston Marathon finish line, some of whom needed canes to walk.

The attacks stunned America with scenes of carnage and chaos at one of the country's premier sporting events. The bombs were packed with metal fragments to cause maximum damage, and several people lost one or more limbs.

Tsarnaev is accused of plotting and carrying out the attacks with his 26-year-old brother Tamerlan, who died in a shootout with police as the pair tried to escape the Boston area several days later.

He is also charged in connection with the shooting death of a campus police officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology during the brothers' wild overnight getaway attempt.

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