View source for Mounir el-Motassadeq

{{Short description|Morrocan al-Qaeda member}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2011}}
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image: Mounir al Motassadeq.jpg|200 px|right|thumb| Mounir al Motassadeq]] -->
'''Mounir el-Motassadeq''' ([[Arabic language|Arabic]]: '''منير المتصدق'''; born April 3, 1974) was convicted by a [[Germany|German]] court of being a member of [[al-Qaeda]] and of assisting some of the [[hijackers in the September 11 attacks]]. He was initially convicted of involvement in the attack, but his sentence was set aside on appeal, then reinstated on further appeal. On 8 January 2007, he was sentenced to serve 15 years by the court of [[Hanseatisches Oberlandesgericht]], [[Hamburg]], because of 246 counts of accessory to murder in coincidence with membership in a terrorist organisation.<ref>[https://openjur.de/u/31993.html OLG Hamburg, Urteil vom 08.01.2007 - 7-1/06], Court verdict against el-Motassadeq</ref> On 15 October 2018, el-Motassadeq was deported to [[Morocco]] after serving his sentence.
==Biography==
Motassadeq first came to Germany from Morocco in 1993 and moved to [[Hamburg]] in 1995, where he studied [[electrical engineering]] in college. Not much is known of his activities at this time, but he did move into the [[Hamburg cell]] apartment owned by [[Mohamed Atta]] and lived with several other people who would later be accused by the U.S. and German authorities of leading the [[September 11, 2001, attacks]].
On 22 May 2000, Motassadeq flew to [[Istanbul]], and from there to [[Afghanistan]]. He soon returned. When the four 9/11 leaders went from Germany to Afghanistan to train, Motassadeq remained in Germany. German police were able to wiretap Motassadeq, but initially did not discover any incriminating information. He claims his innocence. "There never was a terrorist organization in Hamburg," he stated.<ref name=timeofIndia_9thJan/>
==Legal proceedings==
At Motassadeq's trial, Aysel Sengün, the girlfriend of one of the hijackers, [[Ziad Jarrah]], was called to testify regarding her relationship with Jarrah and his role in the plot. Motassadeq said he did not know anything about a plot and the trial never established that Motassadeq had knowledge of the details of the attacks. Nevertheless, the judge stated that he had assisted the plot by paying his friends' tuition and rent to keep up their appearance of being students.<ref name="911link">{{Cite news|last=Baetz |first=Juergen |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2013105029_apeuropeterrorthreat.html |title=9/11 link to militant in Europe terror alert By JUERGEN BAETZ |work=Seattle Times |date=October 8, 2010 |accessdate=February 12, 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622074334/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2013105029_apeuropeterrorthreat.html |archivedate=June 22, 2011 |df=mdy }}</ref> Mounir el Motassadeq was a friend of Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi and Ziad Jarrah and "a member of their ''prayer group''".<ref name=timeofIndia_9thJan/>
In February 2003, he was convicted in Germany of 3,066 counts of accessory to murder. He was convicted in direct relation to the September 11 attacks, but the conviction was rejected on appeal. Though the German Justice Ministry pressed the United States to allow [[Ramzi bin al-Shibh]] to testify, the U.S. refused, and the verdict and sentence were set aside.
Motassadeq was re-tried and convicted on August 19, 2005, of "membership in a "terrorist organization". That conviction was also rejected on appeal.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://today.reuters.com/business/newsarticle.aspx?type=tnBusinessNews&storyID=nL19618150 |title=China to vet inward M&A deals for national security |date=February 9, 2009 |accessdate=February 12, 2011 |work=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/german-court-convicts-moroccan-sept-11-suspect-1.564258 |title= World – German court convicts Moroccan Sept.&nbsp;11 suspect |publisher=CBC News |location=Canada |date=October 7, 2005 |accessdate=February 12, 2011 | url-status = live | archivedate = 2017-03-05 | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20170305040626/http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/german-court-convicts-moroccan-sept-11-suspect-1.564258 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.suntimes.com/output/terror/cst-nws-cell20.html | work=Chicago Sun-Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|author=Brian Whitaker and agencies in Hamburg |url=https://www.theguardian.com/september11/story/0,11209,1552975,00.html |title=Member of 9/11 terror cell jailed |work=The Guardian |location=UK |date= August 20, 2005|accessdate=February 12, 2011 | url-status = live | archivedate = 2017-03-04 | archiveurl =  https://web.archive.org/web/20170304194855/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/aug/20/september11.usa }}</ref>
On 7 February 2006, Germany's [[Federal Constitutional Court of Germany|Federal Constitutional Court]] ordered an early release of Motassadeq. The highest court of Germany ruled there was an absence of proof that Motassadeq was informed about the September 11 terrorist plot.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4690712.stm |title=Germany releases terror suspect |publisher=BBC News |date=February 7, 2006 |accessdate=February 12, 2011 | url-status = dead | archivedate = 2006-02-09 | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20060209034621/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4690712.stm/ }}</ref>
On 15 November 2006, the German [[Bundesgerichtshof|Federal Court of Justice]] ruled on the appeals: They considered the evidence as sufficient to prove that Motassadeq knew about and was involved in the preparation of the plan to hijack the planes and was hence guilty as an [[Accessory (legal term)|accessory]] in 246 counts of murder. This is the number of victims that allegedly died in the plane crashes, but does not include the victims on the ground. The ''Oberlandesgericht'' (state high court) in [[Hamburg]] then took up the trial again in order to decide on the sentencing.<ref>[http://www.sueddeutsche.de/,tt2m3/deutschland/artikel/765/91674/ ]{{dead link|date=February 2011}}</ref> Two days later, the Federal Court of Justice also revoked the release order, and Motassadeq was arrested again. On January 8, 2007, he was sentenced by the ''Oberlandesgericht'' Hamburg to 15 years in prison. The [[Federal Constitutional Court of Germany]] refused to revise his sentence. On May 2, the German [[Federal Court of Justice]] rejected a plea for revision. As of 2011, his lawyers were considering both appealing to the [[European Court of Human Rights]] and trying to get the case reopened – his two remaining legal options.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://de.wikinews.org/wiki/Revision_im_El-Motassadeq-Prozess_abgewiesen |title=Revision im El-Motassadeq-Prozess abgewiesen – Wikinews, die freie Nachrichtenquelle |language=de |publisher=De.wikinews.org |date= |accessdate=February 12, 2011 }}</ref>
Ahmad Wali Siddiqui, whose interrogation triggered a 2010 terror alert, was a friend of Motassadeq since 1997 who also patronized the mosque attended by many other alleged Hamburg-based 9/11 plotters. The al-Quds or Taiba mosque was closed down by officials in August 2010 because it allegedly became an attraction for Muslim extremists.<ref name="911link"/>
On 15 October 2018, el-Motassadeq was deported via [[Hamburg Airport]] to [[Morocco]], where his family lives, after he had served his sentence imprisoned in JVA [[Fuhlsbüttel]] prison, Hamburg.<ref name=Reuters2018-10-15/><ref name=Quartz2018-10-16/>
==See also==
*[[Planning of the September 11 attacks]]
==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=Quartz2018-10-16>
{{cite news
| url         = https://qz.com/1426221/9-11-one-of-the-few-men-convicted-mounir-el-motassadeq-is-free/
| title       = One of the few men convicted over the Sept. 11 attacks is free
| work        = [[Quartz magazine]]
| author      = Kabir Chibber
| date        = 2018-10-16
| archiveurl  = https://web.archive.org/web/20181017021014/https://qz.com/1426221/9-11-one-of-the-few-men-convicted-mounir-el-motassadeq-is-free/
| archivedate = 2018-10-17
| accessdate  = 2018-10-19
| url-status     = live
| quote       = El-Motassadeq, who also spent time in an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan, has always denied being anything more than friends with the hijackers. He still maintains he knew nothing of the plot. ”I didn’t even know they had gone to America,” Deutsche Welle reported him as saying in reference to the hijackers.
}}
</ref>
<ref name=Reuters2018-10-15>
{{cite news
| url         = https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-security-hijacker/associate-of-september-11-hijackers-to-be-deported-from-germany-after-jail-term-idUKKCN1MP1PR
| title       = Associate of September 11 hijackers to be deported from Germany after jail term
| work        = [[Reuters]]
| date        = 2018-10-15
| archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20181015163801/https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-security-hijacker/associate-of-september-11-hijackers-to-be-deported-from-germany-after-jail-term-idUKKCN1MP1PR
| archive-date = 2018-10-15
| access-date  = 2018-10-19
| url-status     = dead
}}
</ref>
<ref name=timeofIndia_9thJan>
{{cite news
| url         = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/911_plotter_Motassadeq_jailed_for_15_yrs/articleshow/1103516.cms
| title       = 9/11 plotter Motassadeq jailed for 15 yrs
| work        = [[Times of India]]
| author      =
| date        =
| page        =
| location    =
| isbn        =
| language    =
| trans-title =
| accessdate  = 2018-10-19
| quote       =
}}{{dead link|date=July 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
</ref>
<!--
{{cite news
| url         =
| title       =
| work        =
| author      =
| date        =
| page        =
| location    =
| isbn        =
| language    =
| trans_title =
| accessdate  = 2018-10-19
| quote       =
}}
</ref>
-->
}}
==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100807204647/http://www.gpoaccess.gov//911/index.html The Final 9/11 Commission Report]
*https://web.archive.org/web/20040402012805/http://www.unknownnews.net/040305stonewalling.html
*http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/8383056.htm
*https://web.archive.org/web/20040401233653/http://www.unknownnews.net/040206secretjustice.html – on the acquittal of [[Abdelghani Mzoudi]], which boosted Motassadeq's appeal
*[http://today.reuters.com/tv/videoStory.aspx?storyId=737253aa3a0fbdcef9d4d0a6d429a966555900ec&isSummitStory=False Motassadeq back in court]{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Reuters video
{{GermanTerrorism}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Motassadeq, Mounir}}
[[Category:1974 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Moroccan al-Qaeda members]]
[[Category:Moroccan people imprisoned abroad]]
[[Category:Moroccan emigrants to Germany]]
[[Category:Hamburg cell]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of Germany]]