The only man to be convicted of participating in the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States walked free from a court in Hamburg on Wednesday after winning an appeal against his imprisonment. The German federal court dealt the Bush administration’s war on terror a blow when it released the 30-year-old Moroccan student, Mounir el Motassadeq. It ruled he had not received a fair trial in February when he was found guilt of being an accessory to 3 066 murders — the victims of the 2001 attacks — and sentenced to a maximum 15 years in jail.
An American state department spokesperson, Adam Ereli, said on Wednesday: ”We are disappointed in the release of Motassadeq. We believe the evidence against him is strong and we believe he is a dangerous guy.”
The German court ordered a retrial last month on the grounds that the original trial was unfair after Washington refused to allow key witnesses in US custody to testify.
Motassadeq left the court grinning after being held in detention since his arrest in November 2001. He was driven away to be reunited with his wife and two children.
Joseph Gräler-Müncher, his lawyer, said: ”He is happy. A heavy weight has fallen from his heart.”
The court ruled that Motassadeq would have to appear in June to face reduced charges of being a member of a terrorist organisation. The court ordered him to remain in the city and report regularly to the police.
Sabine Westphalen, spokesperson for the Hamburg state court, said: ”He is not allowed to leave the city. He has to live with his wife. He has to come if he is called into court. He can’t have his passport back. And there are other conditions to prevent him from fleeing.”
The trial was hailed a test case for US efforts to bring other al-Qaeda members to justice. Prosecutors accused Motassadeq of giving logistical aid to the al-Qaeda Hamburg cell whose members included three of the 11 terrorists who crashed hijacked planes into New York’s World Trade Centre in 2001.
In his trial Motassadeq admitted to being friends with three of the suicide pilots, Mohammed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi and Ziad Jarrah, and to attending an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan. But he denied any knowledge of the September 11 attacks.
The court ordered a retrial after fresh evidence led to the acquittal of Motassadeq’s friend and fellow Moroccan, Abdelghani Mzoudi, who was facing similar charges.
The court also criticised the US government for refusing to allow Ramzi Binalshibh to testify. Evidence suggests that there were only four people in the Hamburg al-Qaeda cell — the three suicide pilots and Binalshibh, who is currently in US detention, charged with coordinating the attacks.
Binalshibh, a Yemeni who studied in Hamburg and was believed to be the Hamburg cell’s main contact with the al-Qaeda network, was captured in Pakistan. He is being held at Guantánamo Bay and Washington refused repeated requests for him to appear at Motassadeq’s trial.
Gräler-Müncher said: ”The Americans will have to reconsider and hand over the evidence that they have. They have to learn this is not Guantanamo and [US attorney general John] Ashcroft will have to change his tactics; it is not enough to say we are at war and everything is allowed.” – Guardian Unlimited Â