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Alleged
Terrorist Suspect Moussaoui Pleads Innocent
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| Moussaoui:
Will circumstantial evidence hold up in court?
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ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, Jan. 2 (IslamOnline &
News Agencies) - Zacarias Moussaoui, the first individual charged as an
accomplice in the September 11 attacks, has decided to plead innocent to charges
he conspired to kill and maim thousands of victims, his lawyer said.
“We will be entering a plea of not guilty to
all of the charges in the indictment,'' public defender Frank Dunham, one of
three defense attorneys, said prior to Moussaoui's arraignment Wednesday in U.S.
District Court, where security was expected to be extraordinarily heavy.
At least a dozen U.S. marshals were in the
courtroom on December 19 when Moussaoui, who had just been transferred from
detention in New York, appeared before a federal magistrate to hear the charges
against him read. Security personnel also surrounded the federal court building.
Four charges in the six-count indictment could
result in Moussaoui's execution, if he were convicted, and U.S. District Judge,
Leonie Brinkema, set a March 29 deadline for prosecutors to decide whether they
would seek the death penalty.
Moussaoui's mother, Aicha el-Wafi, came to the
United States from France last week and said her son told her he could prove his
innocence. The defendant, 33, is a French citizen of Moroccan descent who
received a master's degree in England.
Although Moussaoui has been in federal custody
on immigration charges since August, when he aroused suspicions at a Minnesota
flight school, the indictment says he conspired with the September 11 hijackers
to kill and maim victims in the United States.
While accusing him of links to Osama bin
Laden's terrorist network, the indictment does not explain his role in the
terror attacks.
Nonetheless, Attorney General, John Ashcroft,
called Moussaoui an “active participant'' with the 19 hijackers who crashed
four jetliners in New York, Washington and Western Pennsylvania, killing more
than 3,000 people.
The indictment accuses Moussaoui of pursuing
some of the same activities as the hijackers by taking flight training in the
United States, inquiring about crop dusting and purchasing flight deck training
videos.
The indictment also said Moussaoui received
money in July and August from Ramzi Bin al-Shibh, an alleged member of a German
terrorist cell who was a roommate of Mohammed Atta, the suspected ringleader in
the attacks. The FBI believes Bin al-Shibh may have been planning to be the 20th
hijacker.
A clear indication of the case's importance was
the Senate passing of legislation to broadcast the trial on closed-circuit
television in the cities most affected by the hijackings.
The House has not yet acted on the measure,
which is modeled on a similar privilege granted to Oklahoma City bombing victims
and families.
Cameras usually are not permitted in federal
courtrooms, but Court TV has challenged the rule as unconstitutional and filed a
motion to broadcast the proceedings. Brinkema set a January 9 hearing for Court
TV's motion and gave the prosecution and defense until January 4 to make their
positions known.
The indictment contends that Moussaoui was
present at the al-Qaida-affiliated Khalden Camp in Afghanistan. By the end of
September 2000, he was making parallel moves to some of the hijackers with his
flight lessons, crop dusting interest and training video purchases.
He attended the Airman Flight School in Norman,
Oklahoma, between February 26 and May 29, 2001, but ended his classes early.
By August 10, the indictment said, he was
attending the Pan Am International Flight Academy in Eagan, Minnesota, for
simulator training on a Boeing 747 Model 400. Among his possessions was a
computer disk with information related to the aerial application of pesticides.
Moussaoui was detained by federal authorities
on August 17, two days after the instructor at the academy contacted the FBI.
Moussaoui, according to news reports, aroused
suspicion because he didn't seem to understand French although he said he was
from France. Suspicions were sharpened because of Moussaoui's limited flying
skills. He couldn't fly solo despite his previous lessons in Oklahoma.
The specific charges are conspiracy to commit
acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries, commit aircraft piracy,
destroy aircraft, use weapons of mass destruction, murder U.S. citizens and
destroy U.S. property. Conviction on the first four counts carries a maximum
penalty of death, while the last two counts have a maximum of life imprisonment.
However, so far the evidence against Moussaoui
appears to be circumstantial.
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