Keerrourri Feessaarro
Feb 19th, 2003, 11:44:51 AM
First Sept. 11 Trial Ends
In Conviction for Moroccan
Mounir el Motassadeq Is Sentenced
To Maximum 15 Years in Prison
Associated Press
HAMBURG, Germany -- A Moroccan student was convicted Wednesday of more than 3,000 counts of accessory to murder in the Sept. 11 attacks for supporting the Hamburg-based terror cell and sentenced to the maximum 15 years in prison, concluding the first trial anywhere of a suspect in the attacks on the U.S.
The Hamburg state court found Mounir el Motassadeq, 28 years old, guilty of membership in a terrorist organization for organizing logistics for the al Qaeda cell that included lead hijacker Mohamed Atta and two other suicide pilots. In addition to the 3,045 counts of accessory to murder, he was convicted of five counts of attempted murder and bodily injury.
Mr. el Motassadeq denied the charges during his 3½-month trial and his lawyers had demanded acquittal.
Mr. el Motassadeq has acknowledged knowing six alleged members of the Hamburg cell -- Mr. Atta and two other suicide pilots, Ziad Jarrah and Marwan al Shehhi; and logisticians Ramzi Binalshibh, Said Bahaji and Zakariya Essabar. But he says he knew nothing of their plans.
"I couldn't believe that people I knew could do something like that," Mr. el Motassadeq said in his closing statement last week. "I watched it on television and I was shocked. ... I can only hope that something like Sept. 11 never happens again."
But witnesses testified that Mr. el Motassadeq, a slight, bearded man, was as radical as the rest of the group, talking of jihad -- holy war -- and his hatred of Israel and the U.S.
The defendant himself admitted training in one of Osama bin Laden's camps in Afghanistan in 2000.
Prosecutors allege Mr. el Motassadeq used his power of attorney over Mr. al Shehhi's bank account to pay rent, tuition and utility bills, allowing the plotters to keep up the appearance of being normal students in Germany.
Mr. el Motassadeq argued that he was simply providing an innocent service to friends and that he took weapons training in Afghanistan because he believed all Muslims should learn to shoot.
The prospect of Mr. el Motassadeq's imprisonment in Germany raised security fears even before the verdict. Terrorists might attempt hijackings or kidnappings to free him, said Bavaria's top security official, Interior Minister Guenter Beckstein.
The Hamburg case, coupled with a possible Iraq war, has led some German authorities to step up surveillance of likely suspects who might be planning attacks, though there is no evidence of any specific threats for now, Mr. Beckstein told ZDF television.
Germany's federal anticrime agency said no nationwide measures were being taken, but the states were free to increase security.
"We gather information regarding the level of danger from national and international sources and pass on anything that is relevant to the state police," said Dirk Buechner, spokesman for the Federal Criminal Office.
Mr. el Motassadeq's lawyers tried several times unsuccessfully to obtain testimony by two of his friends, Ramzi Binalshibh and Mohammed Haydar Zammar -- a lack of evidence that the lawyers say could be grounds for an appeal. Mr. Binalshibh, a Yemeni suspect in U.S. custody, is believed to have been the Hamburg cell's key contact with al Qaeda. Mr. Zammar, an alleged al Qaeda recruiter in Hamburg, is in prison in Syria.
The court couldn't get the men released to testify and German authorities refused to turn over their files on the two, saying transcripts of their interrogations were provided to them on condition they only be used for intelligence purposes.
Mr. el Motassadeq, the son of a middle-class family, came to Germany in 1993 to study. By 1995, he was studying electrical engineering in Hamburg, where he is believed to have first met Mr. Atta no later than the following year.
Copyright (c) 2003 The Associated Press
Updated February 19, 2003 11:08 a.m. EST
As Eddie Izzard would say:
"Kill one man, they lock you up for the rest of your life. Kill five men, they ship you off to Texas and hit you with a brick, because that's what they do. Kill twenty men, and people in white coats look at you through a small window for the rest of your life. But its like anything beyond that is almost like....'Well done! You must get up very early in the morning. Your schedule must be packed!' Lets see....death, death, death, death death...lunch...death, death, death, death...afternoon tea...death, death, death...quick shower..."
In Conviction for Moroccan
Mounir el Motassadeq Is Sentenced
To Maximum 15 Years in Prison
Associated Press
HAMBURG, Germany -- A Moroccan student was convicted Wednesday of more than 3,000 counts of accessory to murder in the Sept. 11 attacks for supporting the Hamburg-based terror cell and sentenced to the maximum 15 years in prison, concluding the first trial anywhere of a suspect in the attacks on the U.S.
The Hamburg state court found Mounir el Motassadeq, 28 years old, guilty of membership in a terrorist organization for organizing logistics for the al Qaeda cell that included lead hijacker Mohamed Atta and two other suicide pilots. In addition to the 3,045 counts of accessory to murder, he was convicted of five counts of attempted murder and bodily injury.
Mr. el Motassadeq denied the charges during his 3½-month trial and his lawyers had demanded acquittal.
Mr. el Motassadeq has acknowledged knowing six alleged members of the Hamburg cell -- Mr. Atta and two other suicide pilots, Ziad Jarrah and Marwan al Shehhi; and logisticians Ramzi Binalshibh, Said Bahaji and Zakariya Essabar. But he says he knew nothing of their plans.
"I couldn't believe that people I knew could do something like that," Mr. el Motassadeq said in his closing statement last week. "I watched it on television and I was shocked. ... I can only hope that something like Sept. 11 never happens again."
But witnesses testified that Mr. el Motassadeq, a slight, bearded man, was as radical as the rest of the group, talking of jihad -- holy war -- and his hatred of Israel and the U.S.
The defendant himself admitted training in one of Osama bin Laden's camps in Afghanistan in 2000.
Prosecutors allege Mr. el Motassadeq used his power of attorney over Mr. al Shehhi's bank account to pay rent, tuition and utility bills, allowing the plotters to keep up the appearance of being normal students in Germany.
Mr. el Motassadeq argued that he was simply providing an innocent service to friends and that he took weapons training in Afghanistan because he believed all Muslims should learn to shoot.
The prospect of Mr. el Motassadeq's imprisonment in Germany raised security fears even before the verdict. Terrorists might attempt hijackings or kidnappings to free him, said Bavaria's top security official, Interior Minister Guenter Beckstein.
The Hamburg case, coupled with a possible Iraq war, has led some German authorities to step up surveillance of likely suspects who might be planning attacks, though there is no evidence of any specific threats for now, Mr. Beckstein told ZDF television.
Germany's federal anticrime agency said no nationwide measures were being taken, but the states were free to increase security.
"We gather information regarding the level of danger from national and international sources and pass on anything that is relevant to the state police," said Dirk Buechner, spokesman for the Federal Criminal Office.
Mr. el Motassadeq's lawyers tried several times unsuccessfully to obtain testimony by two of his friends, Ramzi Binalshibh and Mohammed Haydar Zammar -- a lack of evidence that the lawyers say could be grounds for an appeal. Mr. Binalshibh, a Yemeni suspect in U.S. custody, is believed to have been the Hamburg cell's key contact with al Qaeda. Mr. Zammar, an alleged al Qaeda recruiter in Hamburg, is in prison in Syria.
The court couldn't get the men released to testify and German authorities refused to turn over their files on the two, saying transcripts of their interrogations were provided to them on condition they only be used for intelligence purposes.
Mr. el Motassadeq, the son of a middle-class family, came to Germany in 1993 to study. By 1995, he was studying electrical engineering in Hamburg, where he is believed to have first met Mr. Atta no later than the following year.
Copyright (c) 2003 The Associated Press
Updated February 19, 2003 11:08 a.m. EST
As Eddie Izzard would say:
"Kill one man, they lock you up for the rest of your life. Kill five men, they ship you off to Texas and hit you with a brick, because that's what they do. Kill twenty men, and people in white coats look at you through a small window for the rest of your life. But its like anything beyond that is almost like....'Well done! You must get up very early in the morning. Your schedule must be packed!' Lets see....death, death, death, death death...lunch...death, death, death, death...afternoon tea...death, death, death...quick shower..."