He added: "Abu-Ali has been subjected to torture while in the Saudi prison. The United States does not offer any facts in rebuttal."
He continued, "Abu-Ali was not captured on a battlefield or in a zone of hostilities -- rather, he was arrested in a university classroom while taking an exam."
"Such principles, however, have never been read to extinguish the fundamental due process rights of a citizen of the United States to freedom from arbitrary detention at the will of the executive, and to access to the courts through the Great Writ of habeas corpus to challenge the legality of that detention."
"The present posture of this case requires this Court to accept petitioner's well-supported allegations, to which the United States has not responded."
Whether or not to allow the "confession" into the trial as evidence became moot when Ali was charged by the US with providing material support for a terrorist organization and conspiracy to kill President Bush.
With that, Judge Brady dismissed the Abu-Ali family's habeas suit, and Ahmed's trial on the government's new criminal charges began the next day. The new judge was Gerald Bruce Lee, a Bill Clinton appointee.
The criminal trial took place in November 2005. On November 22, 2005, after deliberating for two and a half days, the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict on all counts. On March 29, 2006, Ali was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his crime. While prosecutors had pushed for a life sentence, Judge Lee explained that the (relatively) light sentence was handed down because Abu Ali's actions "did not result in one single actual victim."
One legal court-watcher was overheard to comment, "With this fear of terror and terrorists, a prosecutor could indict a ham sandwich, without the ham"
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
1
