Ahmed Omar Abu Ali

:"Abu Ali" redirects here but may also refer to Abu Ali Mustafa of the PFLP"

Ahmed Omar Abu Ali ( _ar. احمد عمر أبو علي) is a United States citizen who was convicted of providing material support to the al Qaeda terrorist network.

Background

Born in Houston, Texas and raised in Falls Church, Virginia, Abu Ali was valedictorian of his class at the Islamic Saudi Academy high school in nearby Alexandria. Abu Ali entered the University of Maryland in the fall of 1999 as an electrical engineering major, but withdrew in the middle of the 2000 spring semester to study Sharia law the Islamic University of Medina in Medina, Saudi Arabia. [cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/06/bush.plot.ap/index.html|date=June 6, 2008|title=Conviction upheld in Bush assassination plot
publisher=CNN]

Arrest and Detention in Saudi Arabia

In June 2003, Abu Ali was arrested by Saudi authorities while taking exams at the Islamic University of Medina. He was held for approximately twenty months by the Saudi government, and given the paucity of information coming out of Saudi Arabia about the case, many human rights organizations speculated that Abu Ali's situation was actually a case of extraordinary rendition and that he might be subject to torture. [ [http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050314&s=ackerman031405 Spencer Ackerman, "Suspect Policy", "The New Republic", Mar. 14, 2005.] ] [ [http://www.humanrightsusa.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=13 World Organization for Human Rights USA, Chronology of events through 2004] ]

In response to the lengthy detention by the Saudi government, Abu Ali's family, represented by Morton Sklar and the World Organization for Human Rights, filed a civil action against the U.S. government in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. In the suit, they asked the court to issue a writ of habeas corpus to force the United States government to take action to get Abu Ali returned to the United States. The government challenged the case, claiming that the court did not have jurisdiction either to interfere with U.S. foreign policy (an executive function), or to force the Saudi government to release Abu Ali. Judge John D. Bates issued an order requiring partial discovery to determine if the court did, in fact, have jurisdiction. [ [http://www.humanrightsusa.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=UpDownload&file=index&req=getit&lid=29 "Abu Ali v. Ashcroft", 04-1258 (D.D.C. Dec. 16, 2004).] ]

United States Criminal Trial

The District Court in D.C. never got a chance to rule on jurisdiction. In February 2005, Abu Ali was transferred to United States custody pursuant to a criminal indictment, returned by a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia on February 3, 2005. [ [http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/AliIndictment.pdf "U.S. v. Abu Ali", 05-CR-53] ] The indictment charged Abu Ali with two counts of providing material support to terrorists, two counts of providing material support to a terrorist organization (Al Qaeda), one count of contributing goods and services to Al Qaeda, and one count of receiving services from Al Qaeda. The indictment was later amended to add charges of conspiracy to assassinate the president, conspiracy to hijack aircraft, and conspiracy to destroy aircraft. The indictment alleged that Abu Ali had joined a terrorist cell in Medina, led by senior al-Qaeda members Ali Al-Faqasi and Zubayr Al-Rimi, and that among the plots they were developing were a plan to assassinate the President of the United States, and a plan to mount 9/11-style attacks using planes transiting through the United States. The criminal case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David H. Laufman and Stephen M. Campbell and U.S. Justice Department Trial Attorney Jerry R. DeMaio. [ [http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae/Pressreleases/09-SeptemberPDFArchive/05/20050909alinr.pdf DOJ Press Release] ]

Abu Ali went to trial in the fall of 2005. The government's evidence was focused on a detailed confession Abu Ali had made while in Saudi custody. Abu Ali challenged the admissibility of the confession, claiming (1) the confession was involuntary due to alleged torture he had suffered at the hands of the Saudis and (2) he should have been given certain constitutional protections (including Miranda warnings), because the interrogations were a joint venture between the FBI and Saudi authorities, rather than a purely Saudi interrogation, which would not have been subject to the same scrutiny under the U.S. Constitution. After an extended pre-trial suppression hearing, in which Abu Ali himself testified, [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/19/AR2005091901513.html Al Qaeda Suspect Tells of Bush Plot] , Washington Post, September 20, 2005.] Judge Gerald Bruce Lee, who presided over the case, ruled that Abu Ali's confession to Saudi agents was admissible. [ [http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-10-24-saudi-confession_x.htm Judge Rules in Alleged Bush Assassination Plot is Admissible, USA Today, Oct. 24, 2005.] ] [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/24/AR2005102401677.html Judge Allows Statement by Al Qaeda Suspect] , Washington Post, October 24, 2005.]

The jury trial took place in November 2005. On November 22, 2005, after deliberating for two and a half days, the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict on all counts. [ [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5024013 Jury Finds Abu Ali Guilty on Terrorism Charges, NPR, Nov. 22, 2005.] ] [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4461642.stm US man guilty of Bush death plot] , BBC, November 22, 2005.] On March 29, 2006, Ali was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his crime. [ [http://washingtondc.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel06/wfo032906.htm FBI Press Release] ] While prosecutors had pushed for a life sentence, Judge Lee explained that the (relatively) light sentence was handed down because Abu Ali's actions "did not result in one single actual victim. That fact must be taken into account."

On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld the conviction but overturned the sentence on the grounds that the prior Court had deviated from federal sentencing guidelines which call for life in prison. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080606/ap_on_re_us/bush_plot;_ylt=AvEItiVn9XQrAMbX.qRsjiNH2ocA Court orders new sentence for al-Qaida member] .

Criticism of the trial by Amnesty International

Amnesty international has called Ali's trial unfair based on their observations in the period from 7-10 November 2005. [ [http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engamr511922005 The trial of Ahmed Abu Ali - Findings of Amnesty International’s trial observation] ] They conclude that:

Amnesty International is seriously concerned that the trial of Ahmed Abu Ali may set a precedent in US courts of according unqualified support to the declarations of a foreign government regarding its human rights record as a means of rendering evidence admissible, including statements obtained by torture and ill-treatment. In this case, the statements of officials from Saudi Arabia, a state with a clear record of widespread torture and ill-treatment, flatly denying that such practices existed appear to have been taken at face value with no serious attempts allowed to challenge the claims presented

Notes

External links

* [http://pacer.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinion.pdf/064334.P.pdf Fourth Circuit opinion]
* [http://writ.news.findlaw.com/cassel/20050307.html FindLaw discussion of the case] .