Terror and Law – Is the German Legal System able to deal with Terrorism? – The Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice) decision in the case against El Motassadeq -

Abstract

Germany was the first country to open trial against a person who has allegedly participated in the 9/11 terror attack in the US. Shortly after September 2001 intelligence services in- and outside Germany concentrated on Hamburg as one of the places where the pilots and their supporters planned the attack. The Maroccan national Mounir El Motassadeq was the first who was arrested and charged by the General Federal Prosecutor with (1) abbeting murder in 3066 cases and (2) with being a member of a terrorist organisation . The trial took place before the Oberlandesgericht (Upper Regional Court – OLG) in Hamburg, where the accused resided at that time. He was sentenced by this Court in first instance to 15 years imprisonment – the first conviction for the 9/11 attack. The accused nevertheless appealed to the Bundesgerichtshof – BGH, Federal Court of Justice, and his conviction was quashed and a re-trial ordered at the Court in Hamburg. In reaction to the BGH's decision Motassadeq was released from detention pending trial on 8 April 2004. The accused now awaits his re-trial on conditional bail.