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| Sheik’s Lawyer Re-indicted |
| 2003-11-20 |
| Just four months after a federal judge tossed out terrorism charges against activist lawyer Lynne Stewart and two co-defendants, the federal government yesterday re-indicted the trio on a different crime based on the same facts. The latest charges - which include a new conspiracy count - come eight weeks before Stewart and her co-defendants, Ahmed Abdel Sattar, a U.S. postal worker, and Mohammad Yousry, an Arabic interpreter, are to go on trial on Jan. 12. Stewart, 64, who defended Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman in 1995 when he was charged with plotting to blow up city landmarks, was indicted last year on charges that she served as a secret conduit between Rahman and his followers in the terrorist organization, the Islamic Group. In July, U.S. District Judge John Koeltl dismissed those charges saying prosecutors had applied a law that was unconstitutionally vague. In announcing the indictment, Attorney General John Ashcroft, said it was "justified by the evidence we obtained during our investigation." Stewart did not return calls for comment placed at her office nor did her lawyer, Michael Tigar. The latest indictment charges that Rahman, who is serving life in prison, urged his followers to conduct a holy war to secure his release. Under a new theory, the government asserts that Stewart and Yousry used the sheik as personnel to carry out their conspiracy. That last sentence doesn’t seem to make any sense, I think it should read "were used by the sheik". The government now charges that Sattar conspired with Rahman to kill and kidnap individuals in foreign countries. Stewart and Yousry are also charged with the substantive offense of providing and concealing material support to the conspiracy to kill and kidnap. The superseding indictment also describes a series of new acts committed by Stewart and Yousry, including a May 2000 prison visit in which Yousry allegedly read communications to the sheik from Sattar and terrorists, while Stewart allegedly concealed that fact from prison guards. I’ll bet the vistors room was bugged, got them planning on tape. |
| Posted by:Steve |