From www.n-tv.de: He was one of the first who was arrested after the terrorist attacks of September 11. Mounir Al Motassadeq, 28, student, Moroccan, since November 2001 in custody. He is accused of membership in a terrorist organisation as well as aid and abet of murder in at least 3045 cases. The federal prosecutor demands the highest penalty: 15 years. The prosecutor assumes that Al Motassadeq belonged to the Hamburg terrorist section under the leadership of Mohammed Atta. The further death pilots Marwan Al-Shehhi and Ziad Jarrah also belonged to this group. The reproach is that Mounir Al-Motassadeq knew about he planned attacks and probably helped preparing them. The problem are lacking proves. Despite of intense investigations of the Federal Prosecutors and the Federal Criminal Offices there is no proof the Moroccan did a crime related to the attacks of September 11. The charge relies on presumptive evidence and witnesses. A further student reported that he coincidentally heard how Al Motassadeq introduced Marwan Al Shehhi as “our pilot” at a meeting. A further evidence for the membership of Al Motassadeq: the accused did several bank transfers from Al-Shehhi’s bank account – the account that was used for paying the flight lessons of the attackers. Al Motassadeq always explained that he did not know anything about the plans. The bank transfers were made because of mere friendship, he wanted to help Al Shehhi while he was travelling. He sees his trip to the education camp in Afghanistan as harmless. In this camp near Kandahar, that also was visited by El-Quaida boss Osama Bin Laden, Al Motassadeq did a shooting training in summer 2000. He admitted it during the trial. But he is calling it a coincidence that almost all other members of the Hamburg terrorist section were in this camp at the same time. Al Motassadeq always claimed to have nothing to do with the attacks of September 11. His attorney advocate on acquittal due to lacking evidence. It is discussed that the probably most important witness was not heard: the assumed organiser of the attacks, Ramzi Binalshibh. Also he belonged to the Hamburg part of the terrorists. He was arrested in Pakistan last fall and was extradited to the USA. There he’s interrogated and probably could have told a lot about Al Motassadeq as the two knew each other very well. The court did not manage to get the US protocols into the trial although the German Secret Service has them. But the US offices as well as the German government refused to use these information in the trial. Similarly it is with protocols of another assumed member of the Hamburg network, Mohammed Haydar Zammar. He is imprisoned under US custody in Syria. He said to be an important witness in the Motassadeq-trial. But also here the offices blocked. They are partially available, but the judges may not use them. Insiders assume that the German government does not want to worsen the relationship to the USA. This is why they accept the wish of the US offices to keep back these information. Possibly the circumstances of the investigations are very fussy. Human right organisation don’t exclude torture methods especially with Zammar in Syria. Al Motassadeq’s attorneys are claiming that the court doesn’t get information, which would have proved the innocence of their client. They speak about an illegal trial. The lacking arguments is a reason for a possible revision if their client will be sentenced to a prison term. The judgement will be held later today
Check this report out from AP: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030219/ap_on_re_eu/germany_sept_11_trial First, why only 15 years? Second, why does this report refer to the terrorists as just "hijackers" and not terrorists? Talks about being PC.
Because that is the way things are done in Western Europe (rightly or wrongly, is up to you). Probably being factual rather than PC.
Is "hijacker" not an accurate term? You probably think "homicide bomber" actually means something. Talk about superfluous descriptors...
15 years means he'll be out in about 6 years, ready to aid the next jihad. It should have been 15 years for each person. As for the hijacker term, terrorist or mass murderer is a more accurate term. Do you also think that Saddam Hussein is the democratically elected leader of Iraq. Afterall, they had elections not so long about and he got...big surprise... 100% of the vote! That is factual, isnt it?
15 years. Kill 200 people and go to jail for a year. Fuking brilliant. They should have brought this guy to Dachau or Buchenwald and used him to demonstrate the effects of the cremation ovens for tourists. You know, I can sort of understand not having a death penalty, but there is no excuse whatsoever for not locking up this ********************* and throwing away the key. Alex
Germany shows their strength and resolve. Way to get tought Germany and show how important the fight against terrorism is to you. I say let's get the extradition process rolling. However, I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to block it seeing as their punishment is harsh enough as it is. My favorite in the yahoo article had to be this quotation. German Interior Minister Otto Schily said: "I think this marks a success in the international fight against terrorism. It is a harsh sentence but I think it is justified." Yes, very harsh Otto, very harsh. Since when did Germans become pussies when it came to punishment? Otto, you are a fool.
Richard Reid got life without parole, 23 hours a day locked up, let out for 1 hour, no contact with other inmates. Now, thats more like it.
15 years is the maximum you can get for aiding murderers under German law. You can argue whether this is enough in general, but naturally you can't bend the law for a single case. Active murder causes a lifelong prison term (which can be pardonised by the President of Germany after fifteen years or later; this chance can of pardonising can be excluded by the judges in especially cruel cases). However, for aiding and abetting the law says that the penalty has to be lower - because of that a lifelong prison term is not possible and cuts the possibility to 15 years as highest penalty below lifelong; it absolutely does not matter how many lives were affected, just the crime counts. Sentencing someone to 15 years in this matter means that this is a crime of the worst kind and you can be pretty sure that he won't leave jail on parole much earlier.
For those of you bemoaning the German justice system, well, the US pretty much set the foundation for it at the end of WWII. And 15 years in a German prison isn't exactly a picnic.
You like the idea of relighting the ovens of Dachau, Axis Alex? Does that appeal to a certain knotting hunger in the pit of your stomach? The idea of throwing more Semites to the fires?
i find it amusing that you would criticize someone of making fun of the plight of others when you did it yourself aren't you also on a end the bickering crusade? or did i read that wrong. and of course i'll finish my point with a profound quote that spans history "she's a man eater!"
It is a very bad idea to let members of a conspiracy to commit mass murder off easy if they only "helped". That would allow the entire infrastructure of international terrorism off easy since very few are actually directly involved in a particular attack. A legitimate argument can be made that they did not have sufficient evidence to show that he was a "cog" in the terrorist network but to argue that he got a "good sentence" because of the nature of his involvement seems a bit too mild. If he knew and helped them prepare for the attack then he deserves a lot worse than 15 years.
Agreed. I heard 2 news reports/analysis on the conviction and sentencing and both made much of the fact that this was the maximum sentence allowed, suggesting that it did not bode well for defendants in other 9/11-related trials pending. Score one for the rule of law and its even-handed application. So far, so good, it seems to me.
Agreed. Under this definition, if German authorities captured Bin Laden, the most he could get would be 15 years. I understand that this is the toughest sentence allowed under German law and they can't change it just for this guy, but that's why they should have extradited him to the US and changed the law to allow for this kind of thing. Alex
Change the law? After a crime is committed? Uh, they can't do that, you know? The maximum penalty for a crime is that which is on the law books when the crime is committed. For instance, if the maximum crime for attempted murder is 30 years, then the most a defendant could get for attempted murder is 30 years, no matter how heinous the circumstances. What matters is what the penalty is WHEN the crime is committed. It's called jurisprudence.
I know they can't change the law and charge this guy under the new law (well at least they wouldn't be able to in the US, I don't know anything about Germany's legal system), that's why they should have extradited this guy to the US (and it's not too late to do that), and changed the law for future cases. Alex
They should "assist" him with suicide. The members of the Hamburg cell were people that hoped to be suicide bombers. I say they should send him to the Netherlands, give him a lethal injection and "assist" him with his suicide. After all if you kill a suicide bomber, isn't it really just assisted suicide? That is legal in some parts of Europe.