Berlin wants no part in potential 9/11 execution
@zzzzz.com Green-sky
A legal team is going to New York to prevent the use of evidence provided
by Germany in seeking a death penalty. Berlin wants to ensure that
promises made by the US are kept if the suspects are found guilty.
A team of observers from the German government is going to New York to
oversee the trial of five suspects accused of orchestrating the September
11 terrorist attacks in the United States, the news magazine Der Spiegel
reported on Saturday.
The federal trial of the suspect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his four
co-defendants was announced on November 13 by the US Justice Department.
The government also asserted that it intends to seek the death penalty if
the accused are found guilty.
Germany, which does not have a death penalty, provided evidence for the
trial on the condition that it could not be used to support a death
sentence. Several members of the al Qaeda cell that planned and executed
the attacks of September 11 were previously based in the northern German
city of Hamburg.
"In this case we will observe very closely that the given assurances are
kept," Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said.
However it was unclear exactly how evidence from Germany would be
distinguished from evidence procured from elsewhere.
The defense lawyer for one of the accused, Ramzi Binalshibh, said that a
conviction of his client would "scarcely be possible without evidence from
Germany."
(source: Associated Press)