LAWYER FOR ACCUSED TERRORIST MAKES HIS CASE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 002174 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARPI E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2015 TAGS: PTER PREL PHUM PINR KJUS KISL KU TERRORISM ISLAMISTS SUBJECT: LAWYER FOR ACCUSED TERRORIST MAKES HIS CASE REF: A. KUWAIT 1908 ¶B. KUWAIT 1308 ¶C. KUWAIT 1192 ¶D. KUWAIT 405 ¶E. 04 KUWAIT 1600 ¶F. 04 KUWAIT 1042 Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: PolOffs met with prominent defense attorney Osama Al-Munawer on May 15, 2005, at the law offices of his father, Ahmed H. Al-Munawer, to discuss the status of pending criminal cases against many of his clients. Al-Munawer is the defense attorney for most of the Kuwaiti nationals charged with terror-related crimes, including 46 persons held in connection with Kuwait's January and February shoot-outs, 14 persons accused of crossing into Iraq via Syria to wage jihad against coalition forces, and well known Islamists and terror suspects Khaled Al-Dosari and Shaykh Hamad Abdullah Al-Ali, among others. Al-Munawer accused the GOK of engaging in the systematic illegal detention and torture of those who criticize it, and claimed he only represents clients who are innocent. He said that 14 of his clients recently convicted for traveling to Iraq to commit violent jihad were innocent and were victims of a political ruling. Al-Munawer said that contrary to accusations of judicial leniency, several convicted militants have received lengthy sentences. He accused the Public Prosecutor's officer of conducting a witch hunt against him, blamed the office for current problems in the legal system, and saw nothing inconsistent with a judicial system that doles out harsher sentences for insulting Islam than for trafficking in illegal weapons. End Summary. State Security Turns Innocent Men Violent -------------- ¶2. (C) During a recent meeting with PolOffs, Osama Al-Munawer, defense attorney for many Kuwaiti extremists and suspected violent jihadists, discussed some details of his clients' cases, reviewed his own legal troubles, and shared his views on Kuwait and its judicial system. Although appreciative of the U.S.-led liberation of Kuwait, he does not support the continued presence of the U.S. in Iraq and said he was shocked at the abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay and expressed "outrage" at the reported desecration of the Qur'an at the Guantanamo detention center. He said that after the events of September 11, when Kuwaiti authorities began rounding up and holding Islamists indefinitely, he tried to warn the GOK that this policy would create "grudges" amongst former detainees, who would seek revenge. ¶2. (C) Al-Munawer accused Kuwait State Security (KSS) of detaining innocent Islamists on weak charges and routinely torturing and sexually abusing them. He said that most of those held are eventually acquitted, but only after immense personal suffering. Aside from the emotional scars brought on by the abuse and torture, many also lose their jobs and families, leaving them angry and vengeful. ¶4. (C) Addressing the issue of rhetorical support for jihad, Al-Munawer rejected the notion that Kuwaiti Islamists support jihad against Americans in Kuwait. Carefully avoiding mention of support for jihad outside Kuwaiti territory, he noted that there are no Kuwaiti fatwas calling the faithful to fight Americans on Kuwaiti soil, as this would be "terrorism against the peace-loving people of Kuwait," whose representatives in the National Assembly had invited the foreigners to maintain a military presence here. Clients Are A "Who's Who" Of Kuwaiti Jihadists -------------- ¶5. (C) Al-Munawer commented on the case of Ali Nasser Al-Ajmi, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the December 2003 U.S. convoy shooting on 7th Ring Road. He said Al-Ajmi was "100 percent" innocent of the crime, citing eyewitness reports from the soldiers that the shooter had been driving a white car. Al-Munawer said a KSS investigator involved in the case, however, had concluded that the shooter drove a black car, the color of Al-Ajmi's car. Calling Ajmi's guilty verdict "completely political," Al-Munawer claimed that he was not allowed to attend the interrogations of his client and said the case should have led to a mistrial on procedural grounds. Al-Munawer added that he does not represent those he feels are guilty. An appeals court verdict is scheduled to be announced on May 25. ¶6. (C) Discussing the recent conviction of 14 of his clients who were arrested during July and August 2004 for traveling, or attempting to travel, to Iraq via Syria to commit violent jihad, he said the verdict was a political decision and not one based on the material evidence (ref. a). He claimed his clients were innocent of all charges and offered as proof that all involved received only a three-year sentence despite committing different crimes, some of which are subject to sentences of up to 25 years. He said if his clients had truly committed these crimes, the GOK would have punished them with much harsher sentences in accordance with the law. PolOff asked Al-Munawer if he thought his clients had a good chance of being acquitted on appeal. He expressed hope for an acquittal but remarked that a three-year sentence compared with a 25-year sentence essentially was an acquittal. ¶7. (C) Al-Munawer confirmed that another client, firebrand Islamist cleric Shaykh Hamad Abdullah Al-Ali, was still being detained and had been charged with "instigation," based on the confessions by other detainees under torture, alleging that Al-Ali organized and financed their efforts. (ref. b) Al-Munawer said no lawyer has seen Al-Ali's "file," which the Public Prosecutor's Office said was secret. Criticizing the withholding of information as illegal, Al-Munawer said the Prosecutor's office was likely using the time to alter Al-Ali's statements in order to use them against his client during the trial. Al-Munawer said Al-Ali and 46 others accused of being involved in the January shoot-outs would be tried May 24. He said they were being held in the new building of the central prison, presided over by "Shi'a" police who treated them harshly. He remarked that only the defendants' families have been allowed to meet with them. The Legal Case Against Al-Munawer -------------- ¶8. (C) Al-Munawer said the Public Prosecutor's office "always violates laws" by refusing to allow the presence of attorneys and letting cases languish to prolong the time suspects are detained. Al-Munawer claimed the office "fabricated" a charge against him that prevented him from practicing law for more than a year. In a more recent incident, Al-Munawer was detained in February on accusations that he gave money to Kuwaiti fugitive Khaled Al-Dosari, who is wanted by KSS for involvement in some of the January shoot-outs. Al-Munawer insisted that Al-Dosari is innocent of all allegations and told PolOffs that he fled because he believed that if detained, he would be tortured and possibly killed by law enforcement officers. ¶9. (C) Al-Munawer claimed that his recent detention was set up by KSS and the Public Prosecutor. He recounted that while departing Kuwait on his way to a conference in Egypt, he was identified by a KSS officer who then contacted the Government of Egypt and requested that Egypt refuse Al-Munawer entry. Upon arrival in Egypt, he was sent immediately back to Kuwait, where he was met by several KSS officers, who interrogated him about Al-Dosari. Al-Munawer told them that he did not know the whereabouts of Al-Dosari, chose not discuss any details of the case out of concern of being disbarred in Kuwait, and threatened to sue the officers interrogating him. Because of this threat, Al-Munawer said he was referred to the Public Prosecution, where a "baseless" charge was leveled at him accusing him of giving Al-Dosari KD ¶250. He said that the information against him was provided to KSS by an arrested terror suspect named "Maqbool" during interrogation. Al-Munawer was then ordered detained for 19 days in a "comfortable cell" where he had access to newspapers, had a telephone and television. He said the Attorney General admitted to his father, who is also a prominent lawyer, that the charges against him were unfounded, but justified them because he said "Osama (Al-Munawer) abuses us in the newspapers." Al-Munawer, whose trial is still pending, was released on KD 2000 (approx USD 6,800) in February and a travel ban remains in place against him. The Problems With The Judicial System -------------- ¶10. (C) Al-Munawer said Kuwait's legal system was relatively good, and judges were, to a great extent, independent, but policies and procedures were not applied well. He recounted how Justice Minister Ahmed Baqer made a statement following the January 10 shoot-out in Maidan Hawalli promising that the investigators would work closely with the Public Prosecutor's office. "I was horrified because they should not work together," he said, expressing concern that the Prosecutor's office might improperly influence the investigation. In addition, Al-Munawer said the Higher Judiciary Council (HJC) has been known to reward members of the Public Prosecution for bringing certain cases to trial. In one case, he explained, the HJC awarded KD 200,000 to public prosecutors who brought to trial the case of two Kuwaiti youths suspected of attempting to bomb an Israeli trade office in Qatar. ¶11. (C) Commenting further on the judicial system, he said that while he could not rule out the presence of a bias among judges, he has never seen an example of such corruption. He said that there were more Kuwaiti judges than non-Kuwaitis and that the Kuwaitis were harsher in their verdicts. He insisted that contrary to accusations of judicial leniency, there have been several convicted militants who received long sentences. Among these militants, he named Sami Al-Mutairi, the January 2003 Camp Doha shooter who received 15 years for killing an American contractor and wounding another; Abdulla Al-Shimmari, who was sentenced on May 8 to eight years (although Al-Munawer said Al-Shimmari received 15 years); and another Kuwaiti he claimed received capital punishment. ¶12. (C) When asked whether he thought the judicial system responds more harshly to anti-Islamic statements than to weapons trafficking or terror-related activities, Al-Munawer said he wasn't sure but that he does know that in the Kuwaiti system there is a three-year sentence for an illegal weapons offense and a five-year sentence for "encroaching upon the honor of Prophet Mohammed." He said that Dr. Ahmed Al-Baghdadi's recent one-year sentence (under appeal now) for insulting Islam (ref. c) was "light" and stated that Yasser Al-Habib, the Shi'ite convicted in absentia of insulting the Companions of the Prophet (refs. e and f),had "encroached upon the honor of Prophet Mohammed." Criticism For The GOK -------------- ¶13. (C) Indirectly criticizing Prime Minister Shaykh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, Al-Munawer said democracy "is practiced everywhere in Kuwait -- superficially." He said that one need only look at the actions of "the ones in power for the last two years" to see that the GOK does not believe in democracy. He accused the GOK of detaining "innocent" people, harassing them, and then releasing them because there is not enough evidence to prosecute them. ¶14. (C) Al-Munawer said the GOK charges that the recently-declared Hezb Al-Ummah party is working to topple the regime "are a farce" and the GOK is "pushing towards a dark tunnel." Remarking on the newly-formed party's agenda (ref. d) he said "they ask for the rotation of power and are charged with trying to topple the regime? Unbelievable!" Bio Note -------------- ¶15. (SBU) Osama Al-Munawer holds a B.A. in Law from Kuwait University and works at the law firm of his father, Ahmed H. Al-Munawer. He is a member of the Al-Rushaida tribe, speaks very little English, and looks to be in his mid-30s. During the occupation of Kuwait, he spent time in Egypt preparing for the eventual liberation of Kuwait, where he trained with U.S. forces. He entered Kuwait with Egyptian forces in 1991. Two of his maternal uncles are former Islamist MP Mubarak Al-Duwaila and current defense attorney for controversial conservative political 'party' Hezb Al-Ummah, Nasser Al-Duwaila. ********************************************* Visit Embassy Kuwait's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website ********************************************* LEBARON