Skip to content

Judicial Watch, Inc. is a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation, which promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law.

Judicial Watch, Inc. is a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation, which promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law.

Because no one
is above the law!

Donate

Corruption Chronicles

Al Qaeda Terrorism Convictions Overturned

The terrorism convictions of a Yemeni cleric and an aid who provided Al Qaeda and Hamas with funds and weapons has been overturned by a federal appeals court in New York.

The cleric (Mohammed Ali Al-Moayad), who was Osama bin Laden’s spiritual adviser, had been sentenced to 75 years in prison for funneling millions of dollars to the radical Islamic groups behind the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. His aid was sentenced to more than four decades in prison.

After a five-week trial in 2005, a federal jury in Brooklyn convicted Al-Moayad of conspiring to provide material support and resources to foreign terrorist organizations and his aid (Mohammed Mohsen Yahya Zayed) of terrorism conspiracy. Federal prosecutors referred to Al-Moayad as a ā€œmaster terrorist financier.ā€

The men had been arrested in a German sting operation and extradited to the U.S.
They were tried in Brooklyn because they had been charged with raising money for Islamic terrorists at a mosque in that jurisdiction. Witnesses testified that Moayad boasted about giving money, weapons and recruits to Bin Laden and that he personally delivered $20 million to the Al Qaeda leader and $3.5 million to Hamas before September 11, 2001.

In overturning the convictions, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the men were deprived of a fair trial because the government erroneously presented inadmissible evidence that harmed the defendants. In its 68-page decision, the court said it cannot conclude that the jury may not have been significantly affected by the erroneous admission because the evidence against them is ā€œnot overwhelming.ā€

Coincidentally, a few weeks ago a national committee formed to defend the sheikh and his aid firmly demanded that the U.S. administration free them as fast as possible. The group, which publicized its demand in an Arabic newspaper, emphasized the menā€™s mistreatment during the holy month of Ramadan.


Related

VPā€™s Failed Initiative to Curb Irregular Migration Gets Another $170 Mil as Numbers Surge

Corruption Chronicles | March 28, 2024
As enormous amounts of U.S. taxpayer dollars pour into Central America under Vice President Kamala Harrisā€™s ill-fated initiative to curb illegal immigration, the Biden administrati...

Judicial Watch: Federal Appeals Court Hearing in Lawsuit Challenging Illinois Counting Ballots up to…

Press Releases | March 27, 2024
(Washington, DC)Ā ā€“ Judicial Watch announced today that an appellate oral argument is set for Thursday, March 28 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in the case fil...

Judicial Watch Sues to Get 911 Call, Arrest Report of Laken Rileyā€™s Murder

In The News | March 27, 2024
From Breitbart: Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton announced a Georgia Open Records Act lawsuit against the University of Georgia (UGA) Police Department to get the 911 call made ...