Mon, Mar. 08, 2004

New El Motassadeq Trial

ASG - Washington.   On March 4, 2004, the German Supreme Court in Karlsruhe (BGH) quashed the conviction of El Motassadeq and remanded the case for retrial.

The Hamburg District Court had sentenced the defendant to fifteen years in prison after finding him guilty of aiding the 9/11 terrorists, despite his denial of any involvement.

At his trial, the prosecution failed to produce the witness Ramzi Binalshib who remained in the custody of the United States which refused to make him available for the Hamburg trial. The FBI had refused to let an FBI agent testify. The FBI transcripts sent to German authorities were remained unavailable to the trial court.

The Supreme Court ruled that the lack of such crucial testimony warrants utmost caution in weighting the balance of any circumstantial evidence. The trial court violated due process by having not exercized it.

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