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AMP Report - January 10, 2007
“New York Police entrapped Pakistani
immigrant in bomb plot case”
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Martin Stolar, defense attorney for Shahawar Matin Siraj a twenty-four year-old Pakistani immigrant, who was sentenced on January 8, 2007 to 30 years in prison for plotting to bomb the Herald Square subway station says that Siraj was entrapped by a paid police informant who cajoled and inflamed him to lure him into the conspiracy and that it was the informant who pushed the bombing..
Shahawar Matin Siraj was arrested days before the Republican National Convention in 2004 and held without bail. Last May, he was convicted on four counts of conspiracy, including the most serious, plotting to bomb a public transportation system.
Attorney for Siraj said his client had no explosives, no timetable for an attack and little understanding about explosives. He also criticized the New York Police Department's tactics of sending informers and the undercover detectives into mosques to cast a wide net in search of radical Islamists.
In an interview with the Democracy Now Radio, Martin Stolar said the story of Siraj is a simple which is the story that has been replicated across the country. “We have a paid police confidential informant who was put into the mosque.”
The attorney said that Siraj met an informer, Osama Eldawoody, at his uncle’s Islamic book shop near a mosque where Siraj used to pray. Eldawoody, is an Egyptian nuclear engineer who became a paid informant for the New York City Police Department's Intelligence Division. Eldawoody introduced himself as an Islamic scholar and offered to teach Siraj the duty of a real Muslim.
He went on to say that as the war in Iraq starts to ramp up and as the pictures of Abu Ghraib come out, Eldawoody started to twist this young man who was 22-year old at that time. Eldawoody convinces him that it is the duty of somebody who is a true believer to engage in jihad -- that is, to cause great economic harm to the United States. And he twists him and convinces him that it's his duty to do this. As a result, the young man says, “Oh. Let's blow up this 34th Street subway station.”
The attorney emphasized that the plot to blow up the 34th Street subway station develops as a result of the confidential informant, who has been in the community and at the mosque for about two-and-a-half years, doing nothing except reporting on what people say, reporting on what sermons are being delivered at the mosque, and basically coming up with nothing, until he develop this young man as somebody who's willing to engage in violent conduct.
Martin Stolar said that the confidential informant is the one who supplies the backpacks that the explosives are supposed to be kept into. And at the last minute, the young man says, “Wait a minute. I don't really want to do this. I don't want anybody to get killed. I don't want to be the one that's involved in placing a bomb any place. I think I better check with my mother before I go any further with this plot.”
Five days later, Siraj was arrested.
The attorney said that this young man becomes the symbol of terrorism in the United States but in essence the New York City Police Department had created a crime so they can solve the crime and claim a victory in the war on terror. “That is not the way to investigate terrorism,” he added.
Stoler said that it was unfortunate that the jury rejected Siraj’s legitimate entrapment defense which has a lot to do with the political climate. “If you're a Muslim accused of terrorism, then a jury is very, very hardbound not to convict you.”
Here are excepts from Stoler’s interview with Democracy Now:
“The story is a fairly simple one, and, unfortunately, it's a story that has been replicated across the country. We have a paid police confidential informant who was put into the mosque. It was his job. He was to go to the mosque, one on Staten Island, one in Bay Ridge, and on his way to the mosque, he stopped in a bookstore that was next to the mosque, which is where Matin, which is what he’s known by, worked for his uncle, in a bookstore called Islamic Books and Tapes. And he started befriending Matin. He was twice his age. Matin was somebody who came from an Ismaili sect of Islam, a rather secular sect, which is viewed in Pakistan as basically not being Islamic. That led to the family leaving, because the father and his stores were burned and he was beaten. So the family left.
“They came to the US, and then Matin runs into this fellow, Eldawoody, who says, “I’m an Islamic scholar. I’m twice your age. Let me teach you about what the duty of somebody who's really an Islamic person is.” And he begins to befriend him. And as the war in Iraq starts to ramp up, and as the pictures of Abu Ghraib come out, this guy starts to twist this young man. He's now just 22 years old. He's been in the US since 1999, and he convinces him that it is the duty of somebody who is a true believer to engage in violent jihad -- that is, to cause great economic harm to the United States. And he twists him and convinces him that it's his duty to do this.
“As a result, the young man says, “Oh. Let's blow up this 34th Street subway station.” And the confidential informant, who is pretending to be somebody who is connected with the Brothers, the Brotherhood, induces the young man to agree to this kind of a plot, and so they discuss it. At some point, he starts taping him. But totally after he has twisted his mind and convinced him that it is his duty as a true believer to carry out some kind of violent jihad. So the plot to blow up the 34th Street subway station develops as a result of the confidential informant, who has been in the community and at the mosque for about two-and-a-half years, doing nothing except reporting on what people say, reporting on what sermons are being delivered at the mosque, and basically coming up with nothing, until he develop this young man as somebody who's willing to engage in violent conduct.
“The plot then, as it's recorded over the -- by an electronic device, is such that the confidential informant is the one who's supposed to supply the explosives. The confidential informant is the one who supplies the backpacks that the explosives are supposed to be kept into. And at the last minute, the young man says, “Wait a minute. I don't really want to do this. I don't want anybody to get killed. I don't want to be the one that's involved in placing a bomb any place. I think I better check with my mother before I go any further with this plot.”
“Five days later, he's arrested. And something that began with the New York City Police Department putting a confidential informant into the community and putting him directly at the mosque turns out to be a federal prosecution. And they took it federal, because they could get a much longer sentence. So now, this young man becomes the symbol of terrorism in the United States. In essence, what we have is the New York City Police Department creating a crime so they can solve the crime and claim a victory in the war on terror. That is not the way to investigate terrorism, as far as I’m concerned.”
……..
“Well, not only did they have this confidential informant in the mosque, but at the same time there was an undercover police officer, whose name we only know as “Kamil Pasha,” who about two years before these events took place was placed directly into that community. He was taken out of the police academy after three or four weeks in the police academy, told, “You go undercover into the Bay Ridge community, and we'll make you a gold-shield detective, if you do it for a couple years for us.” And sure enough, he went out, totally without any kind of brief, without any kind of training, to go into the community and listen for what he could hear.
“So, he testified ultimately at the trial that when he heard Matin talk about the fact that Matin thought that he could understand why Palestinians might use suicide bombing, because they have no other means of making their point, as a political statement, he thought this was the most radical thing he had ever heard. He couldn’t -- like he had never heard of Palestinian suicide bombings before he met Matin, who said something about it. Now, these are common political discussions that go on in the community, and this guy was reporting back political statements that people were making, statements by Matin, for example, that said, “Look, if the US invades Iraq, I bet there’s going to be another act of terrorism.” That's not something that says, “I want to engage in terrorism.” That's making a political statement that says this is going to happen.
“No explosives were ever given to anybody. The plot had no chance of succeeding, because the plan was that the explosives would be provided by the confidential informant. And don’t think for a minute that the police, through their confidential informant, would have given him explosives. What they gave him were backpacks so that he could show to Matin and another young confused man named James Elshafay, here's what we're going to do, here's how we're going to carry out the plot.”
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And what happened to Elshafay?
“Elshafay ultimately was also arrested, but agreed to cooperate with the prosecution and testified as a witness at Matin's trial. Matin put on an entrapment defense, and it was a legitimate entrapment defense. It was unfortunately rejected by the jury, and that has a lot to do with the political climate. If you're a Muslim accused of terrorism, then a jury is very, very hardbound not to convict you.”
Read also: Pakistani family intimidated:
Community Outraged at $35,000 bond set by immigration judge for mother & daughter
US Newswire – January 8, 2007
Shahawar Matin Siraj sentenced to thirty years of
imprisonment for conspiring to place explosives
at the 34th street subway station In New York
NEW YORK, Jan. 8, 2007 -Roslynn R. Mauskopf, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced that Shahawar Matin Siraj was sentenced today to 30 years in prison for his role in conspiring to plant explosive devices at the 34th Street subway station in Manhattan in August 2004, just prior to the start of the Republican National Convention at nearby Madison Square Garden. The sentencing proceeding was held before U.S. District Judge Nina Gershon at the U.S. Courthouse in Brooklyn. Siraj was convicted by a federal jury in Brooklyn on May 24, 2006, following a five-week trial.
Siraj is the second individual convicted for participating in this plot. In Oct. 2004, James Elshafay pleaded guilty to conspiracy to damage or destroy a subway station by means of an explosive, and testified against Siraj at his trial. Elshafay's sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.
At trial, the government proved that Siraj and Elshafay plotted to plant explosive devices at the Herald Square subway station in order to disrupt commerce and transportation in New York City and damage the economy. The evidence included hours of secretly recorded conversations between Siraj and Osama Eldawoody, an Egyptian nuclear engineer who became a paid informant for the New York City Police Department's Intelligence Division, in which Siraj expressed his hatred for America and discussed his desire to place explosives on various bridges and in subway stations in New York City, including the subway station at 34th Street. In furtherance of their scheme, on Aug. 21, 2004, Siraj and Elshafay inspected the station, and later drew diagrams of the location in order to help them place a bomb.
When arrested on Aug. 27, 2004, neither Siraj nor Elshafay possessed any explosive material…...
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/01-08-2007/0004502198&EDATE=
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