Guilty Verdict in Ansar-al Islam Trial

UNCLAS FRANKFURT 002271 DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/AGS, EUR/PGI, S/CT SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER ASEC KISL IZ GM SUBJECT: Guilty Verdict in Ansar-al Islam Trial REF: A 07 Frankfurt 0445 ¶B. 06 Frankfurt 4401 ¶C. 06 Frankfurt 7499 Sensitive but unclassified; not for internet distribution. ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: After more than two years of proceedings, on July 15 the Fifth Senate at the Higher Regional Court in Stuttgart announced guilty verdicts for all three defendants in the in the Ansar-al Islam trial. Ata Abdoulaziz Rashid received a ten years sentence, Mazen al-Hussein seven and a half years and Rafik Mohamad Yousef eight years. The court found the three men guilty of membership in a foreign terrorist organization as well as attempted murder. The sentences were less than the eleven years for Rashid and eight years and nine months for Al-Hussein and Yousef requested by the prosecutor. The defense announced its intention to appeal. END SUMMARY. GUILTY VERDICTS FOR ALL THREE DEFENDANTS -------------- ¶2. Two years after the beginning of the Ansar-al Islam trial at the Higher Regional Court in Stuttgart in June 2006, the presiding judge of the Fifth Senate, Christine Rebsam-Bender, announced the guilty verdicts on July 15. The five judges of the Fifth Senate found Ata Abdoulaziz Rashid (34),Mazen al-Hussein (27) and Rafik Mohamad Yousef (33) guilty of planning to assassinate Iraqi Prime Minister Allawi on his December 3, 2004 visit to Germany and of belonging to the terrorist organization Ansar al-Islam (a federal offense since 2002). The three Iraqi men have been in custody since December 3, 2004. ¶3. In the ruling, Rebsam-Bender argued that Ansar-al Islam is one of the most dangerous terror organizations in Iraq and that Rashid had been the leader of the group in Germany. Although the sentences were less than Prosecutor Silke Ritzert had called for, she described the verdict as "very satisfying." The defense immediately announced it would appeal the verdict to the Federal Criminal Court (Bundesgerichtshof) in Karlsruhe, Germany's highest legal authority. ¶4. Rashid's attorney Roland Kugler asserted that the court had simply relied on U.S. sources for information about Ansar al-Islam and had accepted the accusations of the prosecutors prima facie. The attorneys for Rashid and Hussein also argued that their clients were not terrorists, but members of Iraqi resistance against an illegal war. (Note: Rafik defended himself after firing his attorneys. End Note.) A LONG TRIAL COMES TO AN END -------------- ¶5. The trial ran for over two years due to numerous motions filed by the defense, which had little chance of success but slowed the proceedings. The defendants at times disrupted the proceedings with antics, on one occasion destroying a microphone, and often yelling at and insulting the judges. In late June 2008, the court ruled that it would accept no further motions, saying they were a deliberate strategy to slow down the trial. ¶6. The prosecution also expressed doubt that any of the defendants would qualify for early release on grounds of good behavior. Two letters from Rafik to fellow prison inmate Fritz Gelowicz, the alleged head of the "Sauerlandgroup" arrested in September 2007, were recently intercepted in the prison. In the letters Rafik expressed his admiration for Gelowicz and offered to join him in Jihad. ¶7. COMMENT: The verdict brings to an end a long trial that was lengthened by the tactics and disruptions of the defendants. Throughout the trial, the court moved cautiously in response to the defendants' actions in order to prevent a mistrial. While the appeal will go forward, the case against the defendants appears strong. END COMMENT. ¶8. This cable was coordinated with Embassy Berlin. POWELL