Thursday, April 24, 2014

The Trial of Captain Hook

I owe a debt to others for bringing it to my attention...

"Islamic preacher’s trial set to begin" Associated Press   April 14, 2014

NEW YORK — Jury selection begins Monday in the trial of a disabled Egyptian Islamic preacher extradited from Great Britain on charges he conspired to support Al Qaeda, in part by trying to create a training camp in Oregon 15 years ago.

See: Going to the British Toilet

Been a while since I flushed.

The trial of Mustafa Kamel Mustafa occurs a month after a Manhattan jury convicted Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law and Al Qaeda’s spokesman after the 2001 attacks, of charges that will probably result in a life sentence. 

Related: Smelly Apple

Nice to keep the narrative fresh in the mind with a never-ending barrage of these things. 

The 55-year-old Mustafa has alerted his lawyers and US District Judge Katherine Forrest that he will testify on his own behalf. At a pretrial hearing last week, he told the judge: ‘‘I think I am innocent. I need to go through it — have a chance to defend myself.’’

In an AmeriKan court?

Prosecutors say he conspired to support Al Qaeda by trying in 1999 to set up a terrorist training camp in Bly, Ore., by arranging for others to attend an Al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan, and by ensuring there was satellite phone service for hostage takers in Yemen in 1998 who abducted two American tourists and 14 others.

--more--"

"Jury picked for Egyptian cleric’s terror trial" Associated Press   April 15, 2014

NEW YORK — A jury was chosen Monday for the federal trial of an Egyptian Islamic preacher extradited from Great Britain on charges he conspired to support Al Qaeda, setting the stage for the second major terrorism trial in Manhattan in two months.

Eight men and four women will hear evidence in the government’s case against Mustafa Kamel Mustafa after opening statements Thursday. The trial comes weeks after a jury convicted Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law Sulaiman Abu Ghaith of charges stemming from his role as Al Qaeda’s spokesman after the Sept. 11 attacks. He faces a probable life sentence.

Mustafa, 55, also would face a life sentence if he is convicted of conspiring to support Al Qaeda by trying in 1999 to set up a terrorist training camp in Bly, Ore., by arranging for others to attend an Al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan and by ensuring there was satellite phone service for hostage-takers who abducted two American tourists and 14 others in Yemen in 1998. Four hostages were killed.

Mustafa said at a pretrial hearing last week: ‘‘I think I am innocent. I need to go through it, have a chance to defend myself.’’

US District Judge Katherine Forrest handed prosecutors an early victory Monday, saying she will allow a British man to testify via videotape from London about his role in a shoe-bomb plot after the 2001 attacks. He refused to travel to the United States because he has been indicted in Boston on charges related to the plot.

--more--"

And that is the last I saw of the trial in my Boston Globe.