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A "swift" "sweeping" Boston District Court verdict found him guilty "of providing material support to Al Qaeda (as well as seeking) paramilitary training in Yemen so he could carry out jihad, or holy war, against US soldiers in Iraq."He was also convicted of using Arabic "to translate and distribute documents promoting Al Qaeda's ideology, to inspire others to violent jihad."
In all, he was convicted on seven counts of "conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, conspiring to kill in a foreign country, and of lying to authorities in a terrorism investigation."
Sentencing is scheduled for April 12. Mehanna faces possible life in prison despite having committed no crime, planning one, or even contemplating the possibility.
In response, his attorney JW Carney promised to appeal, saying:
"The charges scare people. The charges scared us when we first saw them. But the more that we looked at the evidence, the more that we got to know our client Tarek, the more we believed in his innocence."
According to the Massachusetts ACLU:
"The ACLU of Massachusetts is gravely concerned that today's verdict against Tarek Mehanna undermines the First Amendment and threatens national security.""Under the government's theory of the case, ordinary people - including writers and journalists, academic researchers, translators, and even ordinary web surfers - could be prosecuted for researching or translating controversial and unpopular ideas. If the verdict is not overturned on appeal, the First Amendment will be seriously compromised."
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