Posted on 06/22/2004 6:24:38 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
NEW YORK (AP) - A lawyer who has made a career out of defending radicals went on trial Tuesday on charges she helped one of her clients - a jailed terrorist sheik - communicate with his followers. Federal prosecutor Christopher Morvillo told the anonymous jury in his opening statement that Lynne Stewart "used her status as a lawyer as a cloak to smuggle messages into and out of prison." He said she allowed Omar Abdel-Rahman to "incite terrorism."
Abdel-Rahman is a blind Egyptian cleric serving a life sentence at a maximum-security federal prison in Florence, Colo., for conspiring to blow up New York City landmarks and assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Defense lawyer Michael Tigar told the jury "in 40 years in this town, Lynne Stewart has been building for justice, not for terrorism."
He described her as a "compassionate, skillful and brave lawyer" who has been falsely portrayed by prosecutors relying on erroneous and incomplete information.
Tigar said Stewart, 64, will testify. She could get about 20 years in prison if convicted.
Stewart is on trial with two other defendants: a translator for the sheik and a U.S. postal worker.
The three were "able to break Abdel-Rahman's message of terror out of jail and deliver it to the very people who never should have heard it," Morvillo said.
The postal worker, Ahmed Abdel Sattar, faces the most serious charge: conspiring to kidnap and kill people in a foreign country. He could get life in prison.
Stewart and the Arabic translator, Mohammed Yousry, are charged with providing material support to terrorists.
can you get away with not illegal - just unethical - or vice versa, in a case like this?
I was wondering why a Muslim would want a female lawyer, then I got a look at Lynne Stewart and her recently evolved beard. Hey Mohammed, hate to tell you this, but Lynne is also a girls name. Suprise.
Treason deserves the death penalty.
As I recall, the lovely Ms. Stewart and Mr. Ramsey Clark were attorneys-of-record for Abdul-Rahman. I would not be disappointed if Mr. Clark was also implicated, charged and convicted.
...Loyas and jurists, accused, of sedition, let them plead their case...
...Loyas and jurists, accused, of sedition, let them plead their case...
Hope she's found guilty.
Yes. I'm very disheartened that nobody ever gets the death penalty for treason any more. Worse than that, treason has become socially acceptable.
Lynne Stewart -- "ugly to the bone"--
I hope she gets 20yrs.
Best argument for a Burka I've ever seen.
I agree. This woman from what I know, is a perfect example of the convergence of leftists and Islamists that we have seen since 9/11. She is a Marxist who supports "revolutionary violence" against the American politican and economic system. She apparently considers Egyptian Islamic Jihad, a group that killed and mutilated tourists and is responsible for dozens, if not hundreds, of killings of Orthodox Christians in Egypt, to be "anti-imperialist freedom fighters" or something like that.
I'd get banned if I said what I really think of her.
Great post and I'm with you on your opinion. Words need not be said.
She should get more than 20 and I hope they nail her.
Lawyer Lynne Stewart exits federal court in New York, Tuesday, June 22, 2004. Federal prosecutors have accused Stewart of conspiring with two men to improperly aid her client, Omar Abdel-Rahman, the blind Egyptian sheik serving a life sentence for conspiring to blow up New York City landmarks and assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (news - web sites). Prosecutors say Stewart smuggled out his orders for followers to launch violent attacks on Americans worldwide. (AP Photo/John Marshall Mantel)
IMO, sentence her to 90 days on her own in Fallujah. See what happens.
Brilliant... and then send Ramsey Clark in to fetch what's left of her.
That picture deserves the death penalty!
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