Terrorism

• Author: International Law Group
• Pages: 237-238

Page 237

The German High Court [Bundesgerichtshof] has largely affirmed the criminal conviction of Mounir El Motassadeq, a friend of Mohamed Atta, one of the attackers of September 11, 2001. El Motassadeq, a Moroccan citizen, was linked to the Hamburg-based terror cell of the September 11 attackers. He was trained in Afghanistan, but considered unsuitable to be one of the attackers.

A Hamburg trial court convicted El Motassadeq in 2003 of membership in a terror cell and being an accessory to the murder of 3066 victims of September 11. The German High Court overturned the conviction in 2004 for lack of evidence. U.S. authorities had refused to release classifi ed information from suspected accomplices Ramzi Binalshibh and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (who are in U.S. custody) that could have provided exculpatory information. During El Motassadeq's retrial in 2005, U.S. authorities provided summaries of statements by the suspects. The Hamburg trial court found El Motassadeq guilty of membership in the terror cell but not of abetting the murder of all September 11 victims since he likely did not know of the dimensions of the planned attack.

The Federal Solicitor General [Generalbundesanwalt] appealed. The German High Court [Bundesgerichtshof] now modifi es the conviction. El Motassadeq is guilty (1) as a member of a terror cell, and (2) an accessory to the murder of 246 people who were inside the destroyed airplanes.

First, El Motassadeq cannot be considered an active participant in the murders, but he was certainly an accessory. Under Section 27 of the Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch, StGB), one is guilty as an accessory to a crime [Gehilfe] if one assists another in committing a criminal act. ElPage 238 Motassadeq knew that the terrorists were planning to hijack planes, and it does not matter that he did not know the exact time or targets. He assisted in...