After three years of failing to hold anyone accountable for the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Germany is preparing to expel accused members of the Hamburg-based cell that led the hijackings and send them to countries with more aggressive records of prosecuting terrorism.
Although two criminal trials are still pending, German officials, legal experts and lawyers involved in the cases said the massive investigation into the al Qaeda cell has been stymied by this country's lax anti-terrorism laws, unfavorable judicial rulings and a lack of evidence, making it increasingly doubtful that anyone here will be convicted.
The state of affairs is apparent at the judicial complex in Hamburg, where one of the defendants, Mounir Motassadeq, is being tried on more than 3,000 counts of accessory to murder and membership in a terrorist organization. Despite the gravity of the charges, he is a free man, walking alone from his home to the century-old courthouse each morning, unguarded.
Motassadeq was convicted of the charges last year, making him the only person anywhere found guilty of playing a role in the Sept. 11 plot to attack targets in the United States. But he was freed in April, after an appellate court rejected the verdict as based on flimsy evidence and other legal deficiencies…
When it comes to dealing with Islamic radicals, Germany has some of the most tolerant laws in Europe. Before the Sept. 11 attacks, it was legal in Germany to belong to a foreign terrorist organization such as al Qaeda as long as it was not active inside the country...
German legislators have tried to stiffen their anti-terrorism laws in recent years and have made it easier to deport immigrants for belonging to Islamic radical groups. But police and prosecutors complain that they are still hampered by a legal code that was drafted after World War II in hopes of reining in Nazi-style abuses and places a greater burden of proof on German investigators than their counterparts in other European countries…
Legal experts said it could take several months or years to expel any accused Hamburg cell members from Germany.
If Motassadeq walks, how many lines of dovish conventional wisdom will that damage?
* Terrorism is primarily an intelligence and law-enforcement issue.
* Military tribunals are the wrong tool for dealing with terrorism - criminal courts can handle the various complications, challenges, and burdens of proof.
* Whenever possible, the U.S. should extradite its prisoners in Guantanamo Bay to their home country.
* European governments understand the threat of terrorism as well as, if not better, than the United States.
