Lawyers worry about 9/11 convict's future (Motassadeq)

[struggle4progress]

DAVID RISING

Associated Press


HAMBURG, Germany - Lawyers for the first person convicted in the Sept. 11 plot say they believe new evidence from the U.S. will allow him to beat charges that he helped the Hamburg al-Qaida cell plan the attacks - but fear acquittal here may put Mounir el Motassadeq in U.S. custody.

If el Motassadeq is found not guilty after a yearlong retrial that ends this summer, German authorities say they'll send him to his native Morocco - a move defense attorneys say could result in his transfer to the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, or elsewhere.

El Motassadeq's friend Abdelghani Mzoudi faces the same possible fate. An appeals court is to rule Thursday on a prosecution appeal of Mzoudi's acquittal last year on the same terrorism charges. Hamburg authorities say they'll turn him over to Morocco if the verdict is upheld.

In their North African homeland, the two, known in Hamburg law enforcement circles as M&M, would be left open for "rendition" - a U.S. practice of having foreign suspects apprehended and transferred to another country for prosecution and detention, said Rolf Tophoven, an expert at Essen's Institute for Terrorism Research and Security Issues. <snip>

http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/world/11822296.htm

[stickdog]

1. Acquittal in Germany = Indefinite Detention w/o Trial & Torture in US.

How nice!

[Frederik]

2. The Germans shouldn't extradite them

as long as there's fear they may end up in the Gulag of our time. Mzoudi looks to be acquitted and the case against Motassadeq doesn't appear water tight either. Innocent until proven guilty and so on, which is not a principle that is heeded at Guantanamo. The court should look into the (white, blonde) GERMANS that frquently flew in and visited Atta in Venice, but I guess it's too much to ask...