|
Germany defends al-Qaeda trial
Germany said it had no choice but to supply a court with evidence that led to the release of a man on trial over the 11 September attacks. A Hamburg judge freed Abdelghani Mzoudi on Thursday after a secret source had testified he was not part of the cell that planned the suicide hijacks. Prosecutors are now trying to prevent the conviction of another man on the same charge from being quashed. Washington has suggested Germany failed to handle the Mzoudi case effectively.
| Sounds like it, doesn't it? |
Mr Mzoudi, a Moroccan was originally charged with being an accessory to the murders of more than 3,000 people who died in the attacks in New York and Washington. The evidence which led to his release is widely believed to be based on testimony obtained from an al-Qaeda leader being held in US custody. A spokeswoman for the German justice ministry said on Friday that the government had been obliged to pass on the testimony to the Hamburg court. Under German law, the authorities are obliged to supply evidence which could favour a defendant. "These documents were seen as material, or important, for this trial," the spokeswoman told a government news conference. "How the court evaluates the evidence, the sources, the witnesses, is a matter for the independent court," she added. A lawyer for another Moroccan convicted and jailed on identical charges as those against Mr Mzoudi, has said he will demand the immediate release of his client on the basis of the new testimony.
Posted by: Dan Darling 2003-12-13 |
