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The Week in Germany: Politics August 26, 2005 9/11 Suspect convicted by Hamburg Court A German court has convicted the man accused of aiding the 9/11 hijackers in Hamburg and sentenced him to seven years in prison. After a closely watched retrial, the Higher Regional Court in Hamburg found Mounir el Motassadeq guilty of being a member of a terrorist organization, in a verdict announced on August 19. Motassadeq, a citizen of Morocco who was studying in Hamburg, is the first man to be tried in connection with the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington on September 11, 2001. In the initial trial in Hamburg in February 2003, he was convicted and sentenced to the maximum of 15 years for his role in aiding the Hamburg cell of hijackers. But that verdict was overturned by a federal court in 2004 and the case sent back to the Hamburg court. The criminal charge for being a member of a terrorist organization was made possible under anti-terrorism laws adopted in Germany after the 2001 attacks. Interior Minister Otto Schily greeted the verdict in the retrial as a clear signal of the justice system’s commitment to the fight against terrorism and also encouragement for security agencies. “Now a terrorist from the circle of the 9/11 attacks has been convicted; this also proves that especially in Germany, Islamist terrorism is being battled efficiently and successfully,” Schily said in a statement. “We will continue to take legal action rigorously and consistently against all those who either individually or in a criminal organization attack our civilization and want to destroy peaceful coexistence through murder and terror.” Links:
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