 A French prosecutor in the trial of 27 people suspected of planning a terrorist attack on the Eiffel Tower Tuesday challenged an attempt by one defendant to have the case against him thrown out. Anne Kostomaroff rejected a claim by 41-year-old Algerian former army officer and chemicals expert Said Arif that the French court could not try him for acts committed outside France. Kostomaroff said Arif was a legitimate defendant before for the French courts because he had allegedly acted as one of a group of defendants accused of committing crimes in France. The prosecutor also rejected a call by Arif's lawyer, Sebastien Bono, not to allow evidence he claimed had been obtained from his client under torture in Damascus. She said the Algerian had been questioned in Damascus at the request of the French authorities and in the presence of a French examining magistrate.| "Sit down, M. le Defense Attorney, and prepare to defend your client. This trial is ON." |
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