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CNN Live At Daybreak

First 9/11 Terror Suspect to Go on Trial Learns Fate Soon

Aired February 19, 2003 - 05:02   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Less than three hours from now, the first 9/11 terror suspect to go on trial learns his fate. Lawyers representing Americans who lost loved ones in the attack say they'll appeal if the maximum sentence isn't handed down.
CNN's Stephanie Halasz reports from Hamburg, Germany, where prosecutors say the 9/11 plot was hatched.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE HALASZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mounir el Motassadeq is accused of being an accessory to the September 11, 2001 murder of 3,045 people and with membership in a terrorist organization. The 28-year-old Moroccan is seen here in a CNN interview shortly before his arrest in the fall of 2001. He was an electrical engineering student at the same Hamburg technical university some of the September 11 hijackers attended. Motassadeq said he was merely a friend of Mohamed Atta, the alleged ringleader of the hijackers, and others in al Qaeda's Hamburg cell.

"We visited each other, talked like normal friends," he said.

But Motassadeq says they never discussed anything to do with September 11 and that he had nothing to do with the attacks. But he says he did help with the finances of Marwan al Shehhi, another 9/11 hijacker.

"This is true. It is normal and common to help others. When he was traveling home, I was taking care of payments for his apartment, tuition for university."

The prosecution says his financial involvement is proof Motassadeq was a cell organizer. Motassadeq says he was the roommate of Mohamed Atta for a while and admitted training at an al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan. Motassadeq did not flee after the attacks in the U.S., which his lawyers insist shows his innocence.

This trial became a battle between the government and the courts, with the German chancellor refusing a court order to turn over material that could help the defense case, citing potential damage to intelligence sources.

A journalist who observed the trial for CNN says it has been difficult for the prosecution to prove his guilt despite some dramatic moments.

SEBASTIAN FASTENAU, TRIAL OBSERVER: Especially telling was the testimony of a witness who accused him of having said that all Jews should burn and we will dance on their grave.

HALASZ (on camera): The verdict and the sentence will be delivered at the same time by the panel of three judges who have heard the case. If convicted, the maximum penalty under German law, 15 years for membership in a terrorist organization, 25 years for accessory to murder.

Stephanie Halasz, CNN, Hamburg.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And we'll join Matthew Chance for a live report from outside of the courtroom in the next hour of DAYBREAK.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired February 19, 2003 - 05:02   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Less than three hours from now, the first 9/11 terror suspect to go on trial learns his fate. Lawyers representing Americans who lost loved ones in the attack say they'll appeal if the maximum sentence isn't handed down.
CNN's Stephanie Halasz reports from Hamburg, Germany, where prosecutors say the 9/11 plot was hatched.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE HALASZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mounir el Motassadeq is accused of being an accessory to the September 11, 2001 murder of 3,045 people and with membership in a terrorist organization. The 28-year-old Moroccan is seen here in a CNN interview shortly before his arrest in the fall of 2001. He was an electrical engineering student at the same Hamburg technical university some of the September 11 hijackers attended. Motassadeq said he was merely a friend of Mohamed Atta, the alleged ringleader of the hijackers, and others in al Qaeda's Hamburg cell.

"We visited each other, talked like normal friends," he said.

But Motassadeq says they never discussed anything to do with September 11 and that he had nothing to do with the attacks. But he says he did help with the finances of Marwan al Shehhi, another 9/11 hijacker.

"This is true. It is normal and common to help others. When he was traveling home, I was taking care of payments for his apartment, tuition for university."

The prosecution says his financial involvement is proof Motassadeq was a cell organizer. Motassadeq says he was the roommate of Mohamed Atta for a while and admitted training at an al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan. Motassadeq did not flee after the attacks in the U.S., which his lawyers insist shows his innocence.

This trial became a battle between the government and the courts, with the German chancellor refusing a court order to turn over material that could help the defense case, citing potential damage to intelligence sources.

A journalist who observed the trial for CNN says it has been difficult for the prosecution to prove his guilt despite some dramatic moments.

SEBASTIAN FASTENAU, TRIAL OBSERVER: Especially telling was the testimony of a witness who accused him of having said that all Jews should burn and we will dance on their grave.

HALASZ (on camera): The verdict and the sentence will be delivered at the same time by the panel of three judges who have heard the case. If convicted, the maximum penalty under German law, 15 years for membership in a terrorist organization, 25 years for accessory to murder.

Stephanie Halasz, CNN, Hamburg.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And we'll join Matthew Chance for a live report from outside of the courtroom in the next hour of DAYBREAK.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com