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Man who refused to be FBI informant asks for bail
Austin News.Net
Thursday 12th November, 2009
A detention hearing in a federal court in Massachusetts has heard that a man accused of plotting to kill Americans was only charged after he refused to become an FBI informant against Muslims.
Lawyers for Tarek Mehanna, 27, of Sudbury, told the court their client had been arrested a year ago and charged with lying to the FBI.
Other charges were added last month, when Mehanna was accused of conspiring with two other men to shoot shoppers at US malls, to murder prominent US politicians and to kill American soldiers in Iraq.
Mehanna's lawyers said the FBI twice approached their client in 2007 to urge him to cooperate with them to discover information against individuals in the Muslim community.
According to the lawyers, FBI agents made a third attempt in 2008, when they allegedly threatened to charge Mehanna with lying about the whereabouts of Daniel Maldonado, who is now serving a 10-year prison sentence for training with al-Qaeda to overthrow the Somali government.
While prosecutors have accused Mehanna of seeking training at terrorist camps in the Middle East, they have had to concede they have no evidence that he, or any of his alleged cohorts, joined a camp or pulled off any attack.
But they have alleged the men only abandoned plans to launch attacks because they were unable to procure automatic weapons.
Prosecutors have urged the judge to hold Mehanna without bail, saying he has become more radical over the last decade, allegedly supporting al-Qaeda by translating material intended to encourage others to participate in violent jihad.
Mehanna’s lawyers have asked for bail to house arrest, saying prosecutors have only built a case against Mehanna based on anti-American statements he made between 2002 and 2006, when he was a college student.
Mehanna was first arrested last November and was charged with lying to the FBI when asked about Maldonado.  Email this story to a friend
Comments on this story
Anonymous
11-13-09, 05:40 AM |
US court hears conflicting arguments over Muslim detainee
What a load..
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Anonymous
11-13-09, 07:50 AM |
Deport him and his family
Deport himand his family.. cut the cancer from the body so it does not infect anymore with hate.. Let him and his family live in the hate fillled land that he wishes to find.. This is a world without love.. Turn to Jesus whoonly wishes love in the world.. He always said it is your faith that heals you.. If you have no faith you will die.. Otherwise, let love fill your veins and enjoy this precious life while we have it.
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