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| Europe |
| Germany gives Sept 11 plotter 15 years jail |
| 2003-02-19 |
| A Moroccan man has been jailed for 15 years by a German court for being an accessory to murder in the world's first trial directly linked to the September 11 attacks on the United States. 15 years is a good start. Mounir El Motassadeq, a 28-year-old electrical engineering student, has also been convicted of attempted murder, grievous bodily harm and membership of a terrorist organisation. Prosecutors had demanded the maximum 15-year sentence, saying the accused was aware of the hijackers' plans and provided logistical back-up for the Hamburg-based Al Qaeda cell led by Mohamed Atta. Defence lawyers argued the accused did little more than befriend fellow Muslims and insisted his Afghan training did not make him a violent extremist. "He just went to Afghanistan because of their reputation as a world leader in — religous training." |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #7 Of course, that makes a difference. Iraq is just a country full of innocent brave freedom and democracy loving Iraqis tortured by Saddam who just gets no assistance from anyone while Germany was... Did anyone say double standard here? The Japanese maybe? |
| Posted by: Helpful Lawyer 2003-02-20 01:58:18 |
| #6 Hey, he was only an accessory to murder. The Germans have to go easy on him. If the Germans had tough laws about being accessories to mass murder, the whole country woulda been jailed in 1945... |
| Posted by: R. McLeod 2003-02-20 00:52:02 |
| #5 I expect to see this guy get beat to death in the shower with a mop handle a couple of years down the line. I dont think he'll finish his sentence with or without a proposition. 15 years isnt very much, but considering what passes for "justice" in europe its not as bad as it could have been. My only real fear is that at some point al-queda will get back into the hostage taking business and demand his release at some point, and the Germans will hand him over as a result. |
| Posted by: Frank Martin 2003-02-19 23:04:32 |
| #4 He got the maximum allowed by German law for "accessory to murder". Murder would get you life, parole is possible after 15 years although in a case like this certainly not likely. Money transfers and the training in Afghanistan led to his conviction. Even the hardliners in this trial were surprised that Motassadeq got 15 years as it could not be proven whether he actually knew about the 9/11 plans. His lawyers will appeal. Lets not forget that the U.S. didn't cooperate fully in this trial. More secret evidence from U.S. intelligence would have been helpful. German intelligence is far more cooperative with U.S. services, even now. Quite a bit of evidence that Powell presented at the Security Council came from the German BND (the moving labs for example). |
| Posted by: Helpful Lawyer 2003-02-19 19:32:01 |
| #3 Someone, That puts it in perspective. Wonder if he'll get it cut for good behaviour. Might be looking at about 20 hrs per victim? That's gotta be a bargain... Can't believe the Germans, with their experience of mass murder, wouldn't have thought up a more deterring sentence. I forgot, this is the country where (allegedly) beating a police officer is no bar to becoming foreign minister. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2003-02-19 17:02:43 |
| #2 Some of the relatives of 9/11 testified, I believe. Gave some Germans something to think about. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-02-19 14:51:42 |
| #1 Less than two days per murder. This is justice? Only if he's turned over to the state of Virginia after the sentence is out. |
| Posted by: someone 2003-02-19 16:21:44 |