9/11 Cases Proving Difficult in Germany

[villagechild]

HAMBURG -- -- After three years of failing to hold anyone accountable for the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Germany is preparing to expel accused members of the Hamburg-based cell that led the hijackings and send them to countries with more aggressive records of prosecuting terrorism.

The state of affairs is apparent at the judicial complex in Hamburg, where one of the defendants, Mounir Motassadeq, is being tried on more than 3,000 counts of accessory to murder and membership in a terrorist organization. Despite the gravity of the charges, he is a free man, walking alone from his home to the century-old courthouse each morning, unguarded.

Motassadeq was convicted of the charges last year, making him the only person anywhere found guilty of playing a role in the Sept. 11 plot to attack targets in the United States. But he was freed in April, after an appellate court rejected the verdict as based on flimsy evidence and other legal deficiencies.

In another sign of the widespread doubts surrounding the investigation, officials in Hamburg filed papers in July to deport Motassadeq and a second suspect, Abdelghani Mzoudi, to their native Morocco, a preemptive measure in case they are found not guilty or receive a light sentence.

more http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A59917-2004Dec12?language=printer

[gandalf]

1. New news: Witness of prosecution regarded as not credible

A witness claimed he had overheard a conversation between the terror pilots and Motassadeq regarding the attacks. He said he had alerted federal agencies. But no such call had been registered, not even with the local police. The court therefore is not convinced of his credibility. (Sorry, found no link, read in newspaper).

At seems to be extremely difficult to prove the official version of 9/11 in court.

[gandalf]

2. German Newspaper article

Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Dec. 15

Hamburg (dpa) – Im Prozess gegen den
mutmaßlichen Terrorhelfer Mounir el-
Motassadeq sind am Dienstag Zweifel an
einer möglicherweise belastenden Zeugenaussage
gewachsen. Ein Hamburger
Gastwirt hatte vor dem Oberlandesgericht
der Hansestadt behauptet, die späteren
Todespiloten vom 11. September
2001 hätten im Beisein Motassadeqs die
Attacken angedeutet. Daraufhin habe er
das Bundeskriminalamt und den Bundesnachrichtendienst
alarmiert. Ein solcher
Anruf sei aber nicht registriert worden,
teilten beide Behörden mit. Auch im
Wachbuch der Hamburger Polizei hatte
sich kein Eintrag gefunden. Der Zeuge
hatte von einem angeblichen Treffen der
Todespiloten im Januar 2001 in seinem
Lokal berichtet, an dem auch der Angeklagte
teilgenommen habe. Dermutmaßliche
Chef der Hamburger Terrorzelle,
Mohammed Atta, habe im Hinblick auf
dieUSAgesagt: „Wir werden ihre Symbole
zerstören.“ Der Zeuge sagte, er habe
Verdacht geschöpft und die Behörden angerufen.
Das Gericht hatte Zweifel an seiner
Glaubwürdigkeit geäußert.
...