Posted on 04/30/2009 7:24:53 PM PDT by nuconvert
Seven Iranian-Americans who pleaded guilty to raising funds for a US-designated terrorist group made the plea so they can appeal their case before a higher court, a civil rights group said Thursday.
The six men and one woman entered the guilty pleas Wednesday, paving the way for a swift judgment in August.
They had been indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles in 2001 on charges of providing funds to the Iranian opposition group Mujahedin-e Khalq, or MEK.
The charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
But after the eight-year legal battle, the American Civil Liberties Union said the group made the guilty plea agreement to enable them to head straight for an appeals court "on the grounds that their prosecution violates the US Constitution."
The group's challenge "focuses on the fact that the MEK does not threaten US national security, in large part because the US government has itself provided material support to the same group, as court documents obtained in the case revealed," the ACLU said in a statement.
As part of their guilty plea, an agreement was made that the government would drop over 100 charges, to which the seven have pleaded not guilty, the ACLU said.
The accused admitted in court to raising funds for the MEK from supporters and others at public places like the Los Angeles International Airport.
The MEK was designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States in 1997.
Opponents of Iran's Islamic Republic, the MEK carried out operations against the clerical regime in Tehran from Iraq, under the protection of former president Saddam Hussein.
Has the ACLU ever done anything that has benefitted the public interest?
I always understood, it was an act of treason to hid, protect, and/or defend the enemies of our nation. And has not ACLU continually been particially paid out of tax paid funds?
What was this all about? Anti-tank missles to fight the Russians or something more recent? Humanitarian aid for earthquake victims?
CLINTON DID IT - DESIGNATED THE MEK AS A TERRORIST GROUP.’
TIME FOR A WAR CRIMES HEARING ON BILL AND HILLARY!
I think they’re talking about Camp Ashraf in Iraq. We gave them protected status. There’s still debate what to do with them - Iraq doesn’t want them, Iran would like to kill them all.
The accused admitted in court to raising funds for the MEK from supporters and others at public places like the Los Angeles International Airport. The MEK was designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States in 1997. Opponents of Iran's Islamic Republic, the MEK carried out operations against the clerical regime in Tehran from Iraq, under the protection of former president Saddam Hussein.
This concerns a case that was handled in Federal District Court in Santa Ana, California, over the last eight weeks or so, with seven defendants and about a dozen attorneys.
The case started in 2001 and was handled in Washington DC District Courts, then in Los Angeles and then in Orange County, California.
A jury pool was downstairs and ready to be picked Wednesday when the defendants and the government, working over the weekend announced they had reached a plea agreement.
Camp Ashraf was only a side issue as some of the funds collected in the USA apparently went there.
Plea agreement meant only two charges out of some 80+ were levelled and the others dismissed. Subject to a guilty plea by the defendants.
The whole matter had lasted eight years, two months and three days.
The ACLU lawyer who represented one of the defendants, pro bono, assisted the other lawyer the defendant already had.
I have full details but do not wish to remove the privacy veil of the defendants (despite the record being public, while some of the parts were sealed by the judge)
Thanks for the ping!
My response regarding Camp Ashraf was to the quote and comment & question in #4, which has nothing to do with the money collected by the defendents
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