Terrorism is a criminal matter?
The only 9/11 suspect ever convicted is now free:
The only Sept. 11 suspect convicted was freed by a court Wednesday, pending the outcome of his retrial on charges of aiding the Hamburg al-Qaida cell that included three of the suicide pilots.
[snip]
El Motassadeq, 30, has acknowledged training at an al-Qaida camp in Afghanistan (news – web sites) and being friends with Hamburg-based hijackers Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi and Ziad Jarrah, but denies any knowledge of the Sept. 11 plot.
He has been serving a maximum 15-year prison term in a Hamburg prison since a court in the city convicted him in February 2003 of giving logistical help to the al-Qaida cell. He was expected to be released later Wednesday.
The decision was a fresh setback for prosecutions of Sept. 11 suspects after the same Hamburg court acquitted el Motassadeq’s friend and fellow Moroccan Abdelghani Mzoudi of identical charges in February.
An appeals court last month threw out el Motassadeq’s conviction and ordered a retrial starting June 16, saying he was denied a fair trial because the U.S. government refused access to a key witness in its custody.
If terrorism is going to be a criminal matter, it needs better prosecutors.
April 7th, 2004 at 12:09 pm
Actually, if terrorism is going to be a criminal matter, the parties need to play nice:
That whole annoying thing about being able to confront your accusers.
April 7th, 2004 at 12:13 pm
I assume the US was part of the prosecution, hence the statement.
April 7th, 2004 at 12:21 pm
SU
This is a victory in the war on terrorism. Yes, I know how that sounds. But he is going to be tired again, and we have just shown the entire world that we, well Germany, does not conduct kangaroo trials or ad-hoc executions. In other words, Germany lived up to the flower langauage about democracy and law and freedom. Thats worth more than one man in jail — especially since hes not going anywhere.