After Courtroom Drama, Lawyer Says Moussaoui Needs Legal Help
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Aicha El-Ouafi, mother of Zacarais Moussaouis. |
MONTPELLIER,
France, July 19 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Zacarias
Moussaoui, the only man indicted in connection with the September 11
attacks, is "not in his normal state of mind" and needs
legal help, his French attorney said Friday.
Francois
Roux's comments came after Moussaoui attempted on Thursday to plead
guilty to conspiracy charges in a U.S. federal court, pledging his
allegiance to Osama bin Laden and admitting he was an al-Qaeda
operative.
He
then stated, regarding the attacks: "I know exactly who done it.
I know which group, I know who participated and when it was
decided."
His
comments, incriminating statements that have now became part of the
court record, stunned Judge Leonie Brinkema, who refused to accept
Moussaoui's plea and ordered that another hearing be held on July 25.
As
Moussaoui began declaring "I'm guilty", Brinkema tried to
silence him. But Moussaoui ignored her, reports CNN.
Roux
told Agence France Presse (AFP) his 34-year-old French client was
suffering after "10 months in solitary confinement, with lights
on 24 hours a day, and people who may be putting strange ideas in his
head," without elaborating on the latter point.
The
attorney said Moussaoui's recent statements made him believe he was
unwell, insisting that he be provided with immediate legal assistance
and hailing Brinkema's decision to let Moussaoui reconsider his guilty
plea.
When
Moussaoui told Brinkema he had been part of a conspiracy since 1995,
she attempted to aid him by advising him to take it up with
prosecutors, possibly as part of a plea deal which could result in the
government's dropping its death penalty demand, and ended his
confessions by recessing the hearing, reports CNN.
The
French national fired his court-appointed attorneys and has refused
legal representation. Roux demanded that Brinkema review her decision
to allow Moussaoui to represent himself.
"The
U.S. legal system must keep itself from accepting a guilty plea from
someone in such a state," Roux said.
"This
man should not be left to fight it out on his own, with both the U.S.
justice system and his own demons."
Moussaoui,
who was arrested in August on immigration violations, was indicted in
December on six counts of conspiracy to commit acts of international
terrorism, to hijack an airliner, to destroy an aircraft and to use
arms of mass destruction.
He
faces the death penalty on four of the federal charges.
Prosecutors
on Tuesday amended the indictment adding "aggravating
factors", so that Moussaoui would almost certainly face the death
penalty if convicted on terrorism charges.
"My
son has thrown himself into the lion's den," Moussaoui's mother,
Aicha el-Wafi, told a Paris news conference, accusing U.S. authorities
of pushing him to enter a guilty plea.
She
said her son was not well and incapable of defending himself in court.
Moussaoui
has filed 94 hand-written motions since he declared his desire to
represent himself in April, and has repeatedly requested a Muslim
attorney. The court would not allow Moussaoui’s request because the
attorney he desired had not registered with the court as required, and
so has not been allowed to represent him, reports the Washington
Post.
If
Brinkema next week accepts Moussaoui's plea, and moves into the
penalty phase of the proceedings, those proceedings could determine
whether he will be executed.
She
can also reject the plea and remove him as his own lead counsel -
something she warned Moussaoui she might do minutes before he tried to
plead guilty, reports the Post.
Moussaoui
said he desired to plead guilty so as to move on to the penalty phase
of the proceedings in order to attempt to prevent death penalty
sentencing.
"For
the guilt phase, I'm guilty," he told Brinkema. "But for the
death penalty, we will see."
Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigators and U.S. media initially
said Moussaoui could have been the "20th hijacker", meant to
have been aboard one of the passenger planes that slammed into U.S.
targets on September 11, killing some 3,100 people.
But
the Post reported in November that the FBI thought another
suspect, Ramzi Binalshibh, was the 20th hijacker, while Time
said in May that the FBI thought the Frenchman might have been on a
different suicide mission.
Moussaoui's
trial is scheduled to begin in mid-October in Alexandria, Virginia.
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