Moroccan man suspected of aiding hijackers sentenced to 7 years in prison
A court on Friday convicted a Moroccan man suspected of helping the Sept. 11 hijackers of membership in a terrorist organization and sentenced him to seven years in prison.
Presiding Judge Ernst-Rainer Schudt, announcing the conviction of Mounir el Motassadeq after a yearlong retrial, did not immediately explain the Hamburg state court's reasons for the decision.
El Motassadeq was acquitted of more than 3,000 counts of accessory to murder in the 2001 attacks on the United States.
The 31-year-old Moroccan, who in 2003 became the first person anywhere to be convicted in the attacks, looked on calmly as Schudt announced the verdict.
Prosecutors had demanded the maximum sentence of 15 years in prison for el Motassadeq, who was accused of helping pay tuition and other bills for cell members to allow them to live as students while they plotted the attacks.
But defense lawyers sought acquittal for the Moroccan, who acknowledges he was close to the hijackers but insists he knew nothing of their plans. They have criticized the lack of direct testimony from witnesses, including Ramzi Binalshibh, a key Sept. 11 suspect held by the United States.
1 comment:
Another one bites the dust.
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