HAMBURG, Feb 19: Mounir El Motassadeq was on Wednesday jailed for 15 years by a German court after being convicted of accessory to murder in the world’s first trial over the Sept 11, 2001, attacks.
The 28-year-old Moroccan was also convicted of attempted murder, grievous bodily harm and membership of a terrorist organization.
Prosecutors and lawyers representing 21 relatives of the victims had called for the maximum sentence of 15 years.
“In the name of the people we have found the accused, Mounir El Motassadeq, guilty of the following charges,” presiding judge Albrecht Mentz said before reading out the verdict.
It was the first ever verdict in any trial directly linked to the Sept 11 attacks in the United States.
Flanked by his two attorneys, Mr Motassadeq looked nervously several times at his watch as he waited for the judges to enter the courtroom, but shared a joke with his translator.
He exhaled deeply and appeared exasperated with photographers and camera crews filming him, then folded his arms as the judges walked in.
Motassadeq’s lawyers had called for his acquittal.
Security was high outside the court in Hamburg, northern Germany, as the panel of five judges handed down its ruling.
Police had blocked off streets outside the court on the eve of the hearing, which was being watched closely by international investigators and relatives of the victims.
Motassadeq was a friend of three suicide hijackers based in Hamburg who ploughed passenger planes into New York and Washington.
Prosecutors said the married father of two provided key logistical support to what authorities call the Hamburg cell of the Al Qaeda network, which has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Since the trial began on Oct 22, the court had attempted to establish whether Motassadeq was a helpful, naive friend who let himself be exploited by the hijackers or whether he was in on the plot.
None of the nearly 30 witnesses heard by the court was able to demonstrate beyond doubt that he had advance knowledge of the attacks.
Nevertheless, federal prosecutors said they presented a “mosaic” of evidence that, taken together, presented a clear picture of a guilty man.
They focused on his transfer of about 2,800 dollars for one of the hijackers, Marwan al-Shehhi, while the latter was pursuing flight training in the United States.
Prosecutors also highlighted Motassadeq’s surprise admission to the court, after repeatedly denying it in police questioning, that he had attended an Al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan in mid-2000.—AFP
