Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 | Posted by Editor

Justice Department Grants Free Propaganda for 9-11 Terrorists

Most political and legal analysts agree that a civilian trial for the 9/11 accused involves added risk and no judicial or political benefit.

Some consider a mistakes as the five men the Department of Justice has said will be charged in the attacks of Sept. 11 intend to plead not guilty.

The goal is to express their political and religious views during a trial, the lawyer for one of the men said on Saturday.

The lawyer, Scott L. Fenstermaker, said that during a meeting at the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, prison, his client, Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, expressed the desire for a trial despite his intention to admit his role in the attacks and seek “martyrdom” through execution.

“He acknowledges that he helped plan the 9/11 attacks, and he says he’s looking forward to dying,” Mr. Fenstermaker said of Mr. Ali. But he said he expected Mr. Ali and his co-defendants to plead not guilty “so they can have a trial and try to get their message out.”

Mr. Ali, also known as Ammar al-Baluchi, is a nephew of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the chief organizer of the 2001 massacre in New York City.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced on Nov. 13 that Mr. Mohammed, Mr. Ali and three other alleged 9/11 plotters would be tried in federal criminal court.

Mr. Fenstermaker said Mr. Ali told him all five men would seek a trial…

The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment.

Mr. Fenstermaker, who represents Mr. Ali in a civil case challenging his detention gave The New York Times a translation from Arabic of a two-page letter written by Mr. Mohammed, Mr. Ali, and a third 9/11 defendant, Walid Muhammad Salih bin Attash to the military court at Guantánamo in September.

The letter was written to say that the men had no objection to a 60-day continuance in military commission proceedings.

But the three men used it to condemn the United States’ military presence in Muslim countries and its support for Israel, a preview of the kind of thing they might be expected to say in court.

The letter attacks Bush´s “Dark Ages” and goes on to excoriate President Obama, describing the current era as “the black ages of Barack” and calling him “a liar.”

The three men offer greetings to Osama bin Laden; his deputy in Al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri; and the head of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Mohammed Omar.

Since their first appearances in military court at Guantánamo, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and the other 9/11 defendants have indicated that they would admit their role in the terrorist plot and seek to be executed.

However, when they are indicted and brought to New York City, they will have the option afforded any criminal defendant of pleading not guilty and standing trial.

Mr. Fenstermaker, a criminal defense lawyer practicing in Manhattan and Brooklyn who represents Mr. Ali pro bono, is an outspoken critic of the campaign against terrorism and has had a contentious relationship with the government.

Mr. Fenstermaker´s 2005 lawsuit challenging the military commissions was dismissed, but it prompted several Guantánamo prisoners to seek his representation

Just yesterday, Thomas Kean, the 9/11 Commission Chairman criticized Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to bring Sept. 11 defendants into civilian federal court-

Kean said that the trial would help Khalid Sheikh Mohammed fulfill his dreams of martyrdom in the eyes of the Muslim world.

New York Gov. David Paterson, a Democrat, said he would not have moved the suspects to New York for trial.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Republican, told “Fox News Sunday” that the move would only grant Mohammed’s “wish.”

The Financial Times points out the danger of an acquittal and how a civilian trial, with its stronger protections for the defendant, gives the accused’s lawyers more scope than they would have in a military commission to seek a technical acquittal, through the exclusion of tainted evidence and other stratagems.

The Americano / Agencie

Department of Justice