Judge Won't Drop Charges in Mosque Sting
By MICHAEL VIRTANEN, Associated Press Writer Sat Mar 11, 6:35 PM ET
ALBANY, N.Y. - A federal judge refused to dismiss charges against two Muslims arrested in an
FBI anti-terrorism sting, rejecting claims that evidence was tainted by use of illegal warrantless wiretaps.
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U.S. District Judge Thomas McAvoy's "classified" order leaves secret his reasons for also turning down defense requests to suppress any evidence acquired from warrantless wiretaps or force authorities to disclose whether they were used in the Albany case.
His three-sentence public order was issued late Friday.
Yassin Aref, 35, an imam at Masjid as-Salam in Albany, and Mohammed Hossain, 50, are accused of laundering money in 2003-2004 for an FBI informant, a Pakistani businessman posing as an arms dealer. Neither is accused of actual violence.
Both deny charges that they conspired to provide support to Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based group listed by the federal government as a terrorist organization. Aref remains in jail awaiting trial, while Hossain is free on bond.
McAvoy's ruling came only hours after federal prosecutors filed classified court papers that were expected to address whether the National Security Agency's program of warrantless wiretapping was part of the Albany investigation.
The program, disclosed publicly in December by The New York Times, began sometime after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and involved electronic intercepts of telephone calls and e-mails in the U.S. of people with suspected ties to al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.
The disclosure prompted national debate about its legality.
President Bush says it is an effective tool to disrupt terrorists and insists it was not an abuse of Americans' civil liberties.
Defense attorney Terence Kindlon said Saturday he is researching possible appeals of the ruling. "My sense is, this can't be right. This has to be wrong," he said. "The question is, how do you even argue it when you don't know what the basis is?"
Prosecutors have repeatedly asked McAvoy to shield certain documents, citing national security. Kindlon and defense attorney Kevin Luibrand said they haven't seen the material even though both are U.S. military veterans and have security clearances.
Calls to Assistant U.S. Attorney William Pericek and to McAvoy were not immediately returned Saturday. |
