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| Europe |
| Terror Charges Dropped Against Swede |
| 2003-10-25 |
| A Swedish judge ruled Friday that a 37-year-old man who once said he worked for Osama bin Laden could not be charged under the nation’s new terrorism law, but instead could be detained for two weeks for illegally possessing weapons. "Told you not to keep the RPG in the house!" Oussama Kassir was arrested in his Stockholm apartment Tuesday and prosecutors alleged he was conspiring to commit a terror act. Prosecutor Agnetha Hilding Qvarnstroem said police confiscated several weapons in Kassir’s apartment but she refused to elaborate. Before Friday’s hearing was closed to reporters, Kassir admitted having several illegal weapons in his apartment. Which were ... Judge Ann-Britt Jansson ruled there was insufficient evidence to charge Kassir under the terrorism law. That gives prosecutors two weeks to decide whether to charge Kassir for weapons possession. Hmmm, lessee, he’s admitted to keeping illegal weapons, should we charge him? Hmmmm ... Kassir was the first person arrested under a law enacted July 1 that applies harsher punishments for terror-related crimes. The law says any crime that seriously hurts a state or government institution can be considered a terrorist act. The Swedish Patriot Act! Wonder when Alec Baldwin will be protesting? Hilding Qvarnstroem would not say what types of terrorist acts authorities believed Kassir was planning or where he allegedly would carry them out. She also said the law’s definition of what constitutes a terrorist crime is unclear, which she believed contributed to the court’s decision. "It’s hard to tell where to draw the line," she said. Killing people and blowing stuff up is a good place to start. Kassir’s lawyer, Bengt Soederstroem, said he was not surprised the terrorism charges were dropped. "The material presented by the prosecutors was very thin," he said. Hilding Qvarnstroem said she did not know whether prosecutors would pursue allegations of terrorism against Kassir. Kassir was referred to, but not named or charged, in a U.S. federal indictment issued by a grand jury in Seattle in September 2002, U.S. law enforcement officials told the Associated Press. U.S. officials said there are no charges against Kassir, but he is of interest to them. As in Gitmo, here you come! That indictment accused James Ujaama of trying to set up an al-Qaida-linked terrorist training camp in Oregon. He pleaded guilty in April. Prosecutors allege that Ujaama showed a ranch to two alleged emissaries of Abu Hamza al-Masri, a radical London cleric known for supporting Islamic terrorism, U.S. officials said. They said one of those was Kassir, who identified himself as being employed by bin Laden, officials said. The Lebanese-born Kassir moved to Sweden in 1984 and became a citizen in 1989. He spent several months in prison in 1998 for assaulting a police officer and possessing drugs. Wotta solid citizen! |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #2 "My apologies, Your Honor, but those weapons are merely an expression of my cultural heritage!" |
| Posted by: Raj 2003-10-25 12:39:56 PM |
| #1 Every country has a right to determine who can roam their streets freely. Hope the Swedes will forward this guy's fingerprints, retina images and a DNA sample so that the rest of us can keep him out of our countries. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-10-25 12:07:45 PM |