Tag: guilty
Britain Hails Conviction Of Radical Muslim Preacher In Manhattan

Britain Hails Conviction Of Radical Muslim Preacher In Manhattan

By Henry Chu, Los Angeles Times

LONDON — The British government Tuesday praised the terrorism conviction in New York of a radical Muslim cleric it spent a decade trying to expel to the U.S. for prosecution and vowed to prevent such drawn-out extraditions from happening again.

Abu Hamza al-Masri faces life in prison after being found guilty Monday by a Manhattan jury of 11 terrorism-related counts, including charges stemming from the deaths of four Western tourists kidnapped in Yemen and an attempt to set up a training camp in Oregon for would-be Afghan insurgents.

British Prime Minister David Cameron hailed the verdict, which came more than a year and a half after the 56-year-old preacher was sent from London to the United States at the end of a protracted legal battle.

“It’s good that he has faced justice and justice has been done,” Cameron said in a radio interview Tuesday.

But, he added, “we should reflect on whether we can extradite faster … If someone threatens our country, we should be able to deport them if they have no right to be here, and that is absolutely essential that we restore that.”

Born in Egypt as Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, al-Masri had been a thorn in the side of British authorities for years before his extradition. He was naturalized as a British citizen but drew widespread condemnation in his adopted country for fiery sermons that lauded the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, demanded the death of nonbelievers and called for the stoning of gay people. The North London mosque where he preached became a magnet for Islamic extremists.

In addition to his militant rhetoric, al-Masri was an instantly recognizable figure for his distinctive physical appearance. He has one eye and uses metal hooks in place of his hands, which he testified that he lost in Pakistan in an accident with liquid explosives.

In 2004, the U.S. launched extradition proceedings against him. Two years later, with that process still underway, al-Masri was sent to prison in London for inciting murder and racial hatred.

He appealed to Europe’s highest court to block his extradition across the Atlantic, contending that he would face degrading and inhumane treatment in a so-called supermax prison in Colorado, where many terrorism convicts are serving time. But the court denied his appeal, heading off a diplomatic contretemps between the U.S. and Europe.

“He used every opportunity, over many years, to frustrate and delay the extradition process,” British Home Secretary Theresa May said, adding that she was pleased by al-Masri’s conviction.

Cameron said Britain would look for ways to speed up the appeals process in such cases.

During four days on the witness stand, al-Masri professed his love for Osama bin Laden and wept over the massacre of Muslims during the Balkan wars. His lawyers argued that al-Masri had worked with British authorities to defuse religious tension, not sow it.

The jury took less than a day to find him guilty. It was the second major terrorism-related conviction in a New York federal court in two months.

©afp.com / Odd Andersen

Will Another Innocent Person Be Executed?

One of the founding principles of the U.S. judicial system is that people are innocent until proven guilty. The controversial Troy Davis case in Georgia, however, has caused many to doubt whether the system is truly fair.

Davis was convicted in 1991 of murdering a Savannah police officer in 1989, but the verdict has drawn criticism due to inconsistent testimonies and the lack of physical evidence. On Tuesday, a Chatham County judge signed Davis’ death warrant and scheduled his execution between Sept. 21 and Sept. 28. This marks the fourth time in the past four years that the state has scheduled Davis’ execution. The new execution order is significant, though, because Davis has exhausted his appeals. His only hope of avoiding the death penalty is if the five-member Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles makes the rare move to grant him clemency.

The Davis case has long been a rallying cause for various human rights groups. According to Amnesty International,

The case against him consisted entirely of witness testimony which contained inconsistencies even at the time of the trial. Since then, all but two of the state’s non-police witnesses from the trial have recanted or contradicted their testimony.

Many of these witnesses have stated in sworn affidavits that they were pressured or coerced by police into testifying or signing statements against Troy Davis.

One of the two witnesses who has not recanted his testimony is Sylvester “Red” Coles — the principle alternative suspect, according to the defense, against whom there is new evidence implicating him as the gunman. Nine individuals have signed affidavits implicating Sylvester Coles.

Given this information, Amnesty and other groups have launched nationwide petition campaigns against Davis’ execution. But when the U.S. Supreme Court gave Davis the rare chance in 2009 to argue his innocence before a federal judge, there was not enough new information to overturn the original conviction. The judge wrote, “While Mr. Davis’s new evidence casts some additional, minimal doubt on his conviction, it is largely smoke and mirrors.” Others have countered that Davis should still not be executed because the original witnesses have admitted to lying about his guilt, which makes the evidence supporting his conviction murky at best.

Georgia is one of 34 states with the death penalty, and about 42 percent of death row inmates nationwide are black, like Davis. Public opinion on the death penalty varies, but Gallup data has found that a majority of Americans support capital punishment for convicted murderers. However, most people surveyed also said they thought innocent people had been executed in the past five years.

In a time when presidential hopefuls like Rick Perry are unapologetic about sentencing likely innocent men to death, the chances of Davis avoiding execution seem slim despite the numerous problems with his conviction. Even so, rights groups will be intensifying their efforts in the next few weeks to save another possibly innocent man from the death penalty.

Katrina Shooting Victims Get Insufficient Justice

Five New Orleans police officers have been found guilty of covering up shootings on the Danziger Bridge that killed two men in the days following Hurricane Katrina. However, in this case, the cover-up was considered worse than the crime: The jury did not find the officers guilty of murder.

The jury found Friday that the Sept. 4, 2005, deaths resulted from police violating the victims’ civil rights but without “murderous intent.” Four of the officers — Robert Faulcon, Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius, and Anthony Villavaso — were found guilty of “depriving citizens of their rights” with the use of firearms. They were also convicted of various charges related to the cover-up, such as obstruction of justice, false prosecution, fabricating witnesses, and misleading federal investigators. A fifth officer, retired homicide Detective Arthur Kaufman, was found guilty of 10 counts of covering up the investigation.

As a result of the convictions, all defendants could spend the rest of their lives in prison depending on the Dec. 14 sentencing hearing. However, a murder conviction would have guaranteed life sentences without parole. This wasn’t the first attempt to convict the officers: The state had tried to bring charges in 2008, but the indictments were dropped because of errors by the district attorney’s office. After that, the federal government built its case. Although the victims’ families have some closure now that the trial has ended, the failure to convict the officers of murder has left them desiring more justice.

Victim James Brissette Jr.’s mother, Sherrel Johnson, told reporters, “I want the word ‘murder’ behind their name, attached to their name. I’m not satisfied with this, and I’m not going to be satisfied with this.”

Brissette, a 17-year-old who was about to begin his senior year of high school, stayed in New Orleans during Katrina with his family. His mother said he went to examine the extent of the devastation with some friends when he was shot and killed on the bridge. Four other members of his family were seriously wounded in the incident.

Police also killed Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old black man with mental disabilities who lived at home with his mother. According to Ronald’s brother Lance, the brothers were crossing the bridge and started running when teenagers opened fire behind them. Soon, a dozen police officers responding to the report of gunshots arrived and began shooting at the people on the bridge. Witnesses said none of the civilians had guns and the officers did not give warning before opening fire. Officer Faulcon, who later testified he was filled with “indescribable fear” during the incident, shot Ronald. Officer Michael Hunter testified that another police officer, later found to be Bowen, also kicked Madison as hard as he could while he was dying on the ground.

According to the autopsy, Madison’s body had five gunshot wounds — and all of them entered through the back. After the shooting, police did not find any weapon on or near Madison’s body. Likewise, his brother, Lance, did not have any weapons on him — evidence that did not prevent officers from taking him into custody and holding him in jail for six months without prosecution. Neither of the brothers had a criminal record.

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said of Friday’s convictions, “Today’s verdict sends a powerful, unmistakable message. … The citizens of this country will not, should not, and we intend that they will never have to fear the individuals who are called upon to protect them.” Perhaps the true message is that covering up a murder is worse than actually committing one — especially when the shooters are police officers.