Lotfi Raissi

Infobox Person
name = Lotfi Raissi


image_size =
caption =
birth_name =
birth_date = April, 1974
birth_place = Bab el Oued, Algiers, Algeria
death_date =
death_place =
body_discovered =
death_cause =
resting_place =
resting_place_coordinates =
residence =
nationality = Algerian
ethnicity = Berber-Arab
citizenship = Algerian, British
other_names =
known_for = Wrongly accused of being involved with the 9/11 terrorist attacks
education =
alma_mater =
employer =
occupation =
home_town =
title =
salary =
networth =
height =
weight =
term =
party =
boards =
religion = Muslim
spouse = Sonia
partner =
children =
parents =
relations =
callsign =


website =
footnotes =

Algerian pilot Lotfi Raissi ( _ar. لطفي رئيسي) (born April 1974), was the first person charged in connection with the September 11, 2001 attacks. However, in 2003 a British court ruled that the charges against Raissi were without evidence, and that he had no association with the attacks.

Biography

Raissi was born and grew up in Bab el Oued, a suburb of Algiers. In November 1996 he moved to Phoenix, Arizona, to attend flight school, including a 1998 stint at Sawyer School of Aviation a month after Hani Hanjour quit.

In April 2000, when his student visa expired, he moved back to Algeria and then to London, with his wife Sonia (née Demolis), whom he had met in the United States.

From June 11-18, 2001, Raissi had apparently visited Las Vegas, while Ziad Jarrah was in the city.cite news
url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/10/04/MN102970.DTL
title=Agents of terror leave their mark on Sin City / Las Vegas workers recall the men they can't forget
publisher=San Francisco Chronicle
author=Kevin Fagan
date=2001-10-04
accessdate=2008-08-12
quote= [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sfgate.com%2Fcgi-bin%2Farticle.cgi%3Ffile%3D%2Fchronicle%2Farchive%2F2001%2F10%2F04%2FMN102970.DTL&date=2008-08-12 mirror] ] On his way home from the city, he was given a citation for speeding in Arizona. [cite news
url=http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2001/Nov-11-Sun-2001/news/17421140.html
title=Hijacker inquiry starting to slow
publisher=Las Vegas Review Journal
author=Glen Puit
date=2001-11-11
accessdate=2008-08-12
quote= [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reviewjournal.com%2Flvrj_home%2F2001%2FNov-11-Sun-2001%2Fnews%2F17421140.html+&date=2008-08-12 mirror webcitation.org] ]

Implication in 9/11 terrorist attacks

Arrest and Investigation

Raissi was living outside Colnbrook (near Heathrow) at the time of the attacks. He was arrested at 3 am on September 21, 2001, when he was taken from his house naked, along with his wife Sonia and his brother.cite news
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1822228.stm
title=Terror suspect describes jail 'ordeal'
publisher=BBC
author=
date=2002-02-15
accessdate=2008-08-12
quote= [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.bbc.co.uk%2F1%2Fhi%2Fengland%2F1822228.stm&date=2008-08-12 mirror] ] "The Times" obtained a copy of the FBI's initial request for information about Raissi. In it, "The Times" asserts that the FBI requested that British authorities use discretion, in order not to tip him off that he was under suspicion.

Raissi's brother and wife Sonia were released by British police four days after the arrests, although Sonia lost her job working with Air France and his brother's wife lost her job at Heathrow Airport as well.World news | The Guardian2002-09-11cite news
url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/september11/oneyearon/interview/0,12385,788879,00.html
title=Lofti Raissi
publisher=The Guardian
author=
date=2002-09-11
accessdate=2008-08-12
quote= [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2002%2Fsep%2F11%2Fseptember112002.september1147&date=2008-08-12 mirror] ] From there Raissi was detained for five months at Belmarsh Prison, under suspicion of training the pilots who flew the jet into the Pentagon. He was also charged with using a "false identity" having gone by the name "Fabrice Vincent Algier", and for conspiring to help Redouane Dahmani lie on his visa application. [cite news
url=http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/terrorism/usraissi112701ind.pdf
title=USA v. Lofti Raissi
publisher=
author=
date=2001-11-27
accessdate=2008-08-12
quote=
format=PDF [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.findlaw.com%2Fhdocs%2Fdocs%2Fterrorism%2Fusraissi112701ind.pdf&date=2008-08-12 mirror] ]

After a week of interrogation US officials, and British prosecutor James Lewis, made an extradition request; ironically due to a lack of evidence that he was involved in the September 11 attacks, the only charge he could be held on was lying on his pilot's license by not revealing he had undergone knee surgery after a tennis injury, and a charge for shoplifting at a London airport dating to 1993. Raissi's attorney was Richard Egan. [cite news
url=http://www.tuckerssolicitors.com/show_lawyer.asp?id=41
title=Richard Egan
publisher=
author=
date=
accessdate=2008-08-12
quote= [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tuckerssolicitors.com%2Fshow_lawyer.asp%3Fid%3D41&date=2008-08-12 mirror] ]

British prosecutor Arvinda Sambir publicly announced that the FBI had discovered Raissi's name in Salem al-Hazmi's rental vehicle; that a raid on Raissi's home had turned up video evidence of him and Hani Hanjour celebrating together on his computer; that further telephone records confirmed their suspicions that he had trained four of the hijackers in an effort to help support terrorism against U.S. interests, that his pilot logbook was missing all data from March 2000-June 2001, and stated that they might seek the death penalty. [cite news
url=http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2001/Sep-29-Sat-2001/news/17113504.html
title=Algerian accused in Britain of training hijackers
publisher=Las Vegas Review Journal
author=
date=2001-09-29
accessdate=2008-08-12
quote= [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reviewjournal.com%2Flvrj_home%2F2001%2FSep-29-Sat-2001%2Fnews%2F17113504.html&date=2008-08-12 mirror] ] However once his trial began, they were unable to produce any such evidence. According to "The Times";:

On February 12, 2003, Judge Timothy Workman allowed Raissi to post $14,000 bail and surrender his passport, after stating that there seemed to be no credibility to the US claims. [cite news
url=http://www.help-for-you.com/news/Feb2002/Feb12/PRT12-669Article.html
title=British Judge Grants Bail to Pilot Suspected of Terrorist Links
publisher=Voice of America
author=
date=2002-02-12
accessdate=2008-08-12
quote= [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.help-for-you.com%2Fnews%2FFeb2002%2FFeb12%2FPRT12-669Article.html&date=2008-08-12 mirror] ] He was formally released from charges on April 21.

Lawsuits

In September 2003, Raissi announced he was suing the FBI and the Department of Justice for $10 million, over claims that his life had been ruined by his being branded a terrorist and that he was unable to find work.

The suit, carried by Jules Carey of Tuckers Solicitors, alleges false imprisonment, false arrest, malicious prosecution, malicious continuation of prosecution, abuse of process, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligence in infliction of emotional distress. Amnesty International's Paul Hoffman was one of the lawyers handling the case.

Raissi launched a civil suit against the "Mail on Sunday", for printing false information about criminal charges he faced, and citing the fact that airlines will not hire him based on the accusations against him. He was awarded an undisclosed sum.

On February 22, 2007, Mr Raissi lost his case in the UK High Court to claim compensation for wrongful arrest and the 5 months he spent in Belmarsh. Judges ruled him ineligible on the grounds that he had been held as part of an extradition case, rather than 'in the domestic criminal process'.He took his case to the Court of Appeal and the High Court ruling was overturned, Appeal Judges stating that evidence showed the CPS and the Police were responsible for "serious defaults"

Raissi's case remains a contentious issue in Algeria, whose government refuses to sign an agreement with Britain about extraditing hijackers until Britain acknowledges that its treatment of Raissi was flawed. British authorities continue to insist that British police and prosecutors acted properly, and it was American authorities who were at fault for supplying them with bad intelligence.

In February 2008 the Court of Appeal rejected this position, 'completely exonerated' Raissi, and ordered British authorities to reconsider his entitlement to compensation, which had previously been rejected. It also found that the Crown Prosecution Service and the police had presented false evidence to the courts.cite news
url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article3368163.ece
title=Judges condemn police lies after 9/11 attacks that ruined pilot's life
publisher=The Times
author=Sean O'Neill
date=2008-02-15
accessdate=2008-08-12
quote= [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fbusiness.timesonline.co.uk%2Ftol%2Fbusiness%2Flaw%2Farticle3368163.ece&date=2008-08-12 mirror] ]

References

External links

* [http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/terrorism/usraissi100901ind.pdf findlaw.com] , FindLaw.com pdf of grand jury charges of false identity
* [http://www.news.telegraph.co.uk/core/Content/displayPrintable.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/11/01/nrais101.xml My son was brought up to abhor terrorists] , "Telegraph Online", November 1, 2001
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1797955,00.html Police blunder after 9/11 'destroyed pilot's career'] , "Times Online", September 26, 2005