|
Trial of terrorist suspects resumes in Morocco
I used to love that Moroccan love song. Remember? "The first time, ever I saw your fez..."Middle East Online The trial of three Saudis and seven Moroccans accused of plotting attacks against US and NATO shipping resumed in Casablanca on Friday, a week after the defense asked for the case to be thrown out. The 10 suspects, who were arrested in May last year, are accused of planning to use Zodiac boats - fast motorised rubber dinghies - to blow up Western naval shipping in the Straits of Gibraltar, and to attack western tourist spots in Morocco, including Jemaa El Fna Square in Marrakesh. Same operations as Yemen and Bali. Not very original at all... The court rejected a request made last Friday by defense lawyer Khalil Idrissi for the case to be dropped because of what he called irregularities and procedural errors which "seriously compromised" the trial. Idrissi said that a change to the presiding judge and one of the legal assessors hearing the case contravened Morocco's criminal procedures code. The old "get 'em off on a technicality" trick didn't work... The families of the accused, charged with criminal association, attempted voluntary premeditated homicide, attempted sabotage and forgery, have expressed concern over the changes, which they said reflected the desire of the authorities to take a tough stance against suspected terrorists in the courts. As opposed to an indulgent stance, which would make things all peaches and cream... Last month, Idrissi rejected the charges against his clients and said they had been "held in a secret place and tortured," a claim he reiterated last week when he called for the statements given by the accused to the police to be declared null and void because they had been made under extreme duress. "Ummm... That's a very fine set of moustachios you have there, sir..." "Mahmoud, rip his beard off!" "Ow! Ow! Ow! I'll talk!" The charges brought against the accused had been based on the statements, which were "not backed up by material evidence," Idrissi said. Didja ever notice that these guys plot hair-raising atrocities, and then bitch and moan when the cops don't handle them with kid gloves? The defense has been denied access to vital pieces of evidence, he added, including a suitcase allegedly containing explosives which was said to belong to the suspects. "Well, y'see, we wuz examining the evidence and it, ummm... exploded." Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-01-26 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=9586 |