AMMAN, Jordan, Oct. 17, 2002 (UPI) -- A Jordanian civilian court has
overturned a State Security Court verdict that sentenced a man to death on charges of terrorism,
the second such reversal in less than a month, judicial sources said Thursday. The sources said the Court of Cassation, an appeals court, found the military tribunal's verdict lacked sufficient evidence to sentence to death
Raed Hijazi, a U.S. citizen of Jordanian origin. In its decision, the appeals court said the State Security Court failed to prove that Hijazi, who was a cab driver in Boston, had possessed or manufactured illegal explosives "for plans to carry out terrorist acts."
It also found no justification for convicting him of possessing automatic weapons without a license. But it supported the military court's decision to "drop charges of conspiring to carry out terrorist acts and belonging to an illegal organization, (al Qaida organization)."
(As far as I know, the man was then free, er, but not for long).
Thanks; I just found the AP story, which is basically the same as the one you posted. Unbelievable! This guy was involved with the Cole bombing, the Millenium plot, a plot to kill American tourists in Israel, and a smorgasbord of other al Quaeda ops, and they let him go.
When justice fails, there's nothing like a well-aimed missile to even the score.
Maybe we should simply offer all the home-grown Islamists an all-expenses-paid vacation in beautiful Yemen -- including Mohammad Hijazi's father.
From ArabicNews.com:
Muhammad Hijazi, the (San Francisco-educated Palestinian engineer) father of the convict, accused the Jordanian authorities of seeking to "please Israel and to protect it" as well as "to get money from the US under the pretext of resisting terrorism." He said " They want to please the Israelis and the Americans at the expense of my son.
Is it even possible to be a Palestinian and a loyal American? It seems not.