In a legal victory that left him crying tears of joy, Mohammed Salah today was acquitted of federal racketeering charges alleging he was a high-ranking operative of the militant Palestinian group Hamas. He was convicted of far lesser charges of obstruction of justice.
“We are not terrorists,” Salah told reporters as he carried his son, Ibrahim, on his shoulders.
Salah’s defense attorney said he hoped the judge would grant Salah probation on the remaining counts.
Defense attorneys declared victory in the three-month trial that the government had described as a major component in its war on terrorism.
Salah, 53, of Bridgeview, and Abdelhaleem Ashqar, 48, a one-time assistant business professor at Howard University in Washington, had been accused of laundering money for Hamas terrorists fighting to topple the Israeli government.
Defense attorneys portrayed the men as freedom fighters, comparing them to Nelson Mandela, Malcolm X and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Salah was convicted of obstruction of justice for giving false answers to questions he was asked in a civil lawsuit. Ashqar was convicted of criminal contempt and obstruction of justice for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury when he had been given immunity for anything he might say.
http://www.dailysouthtown.com/news/239624,dst_salahverdict_201.article
Defense attorneys compare Salah to Malcolm X, King Jr., and Mandela?
3 comments:
These guys will not be fired by Gonzales. With the Defense they produced to the court it's a shock the Judge didn't charge them with being stupid.
Defense attorneys portrayed the men as freedom fighters, comparing them to Nelson Mandela, Malcolm X and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Now how far back to we go with charging people. At lease it's not a bad group of men to be compared to now they didn't use the criminal team of Bush/Cheney crime wave.
A very long trial and look at the results, not good.
It is unbelievable. If Salah can be porteryed as freedom fighters then what is the difference between a patriot and a terrorist? Jackie is right. Gonzo won't fire the defense attorney. They get job security. How can you comapre Mandela, Malcolm, amd King when Mandela was against apartheid and went to prison for years, Malcolm was a militant, changed to Muslim and completely changed to work together with blacks and whites. Malcolm also was against King's anti-violence. And King promoted peace and non-violence and went to prison over and over. Missed up in Chicago. Feel bad for the prosecutors for that case.
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