Padilla prosecution to rest on 'own words' through wiretapped conversations

Raw Story
Jan. 05, 2007

The goverment's case against a US citizen accused of plotting a "dirty bomb" attack will be largely based on the defendant's own words, according to an article in Thursday's New York Times.

Prosecutors "will rely largely on wiretapped conversations" when it puts Jose Padilla and two others "on trial as a 'North American support cell' that sent money, goods and recruits abroad to assist 'global jihad,'" Deborah Sontag writes.

However, even though 230 recorded phone conversations make up "the core of the government's case," Padilla's voice can only be heard on seven of the calls.

"And on those seven, which The Times obtained from a participant in the case, Padilla does not discuss violent plots," Sontag writes.

Although the arrest of Padilla over four-and-a-half years ago was highly touted by President Bush, and other Administration officials at the time, the government plans to "make a far more circumscribed case against Padilla in court, effectively demoting him from al-Qaida's dirty bomber to foot soldier in a somewhat nebulous conspiracy."

A conversation about taking "the whole family" to "have a blast" at Busch Gardens is examined by the paper.

"Given that Padilla and Hassoun are criminal defendants in a terrorism conspiracy case in Miami, it sounds suspicious, as if Hassoun were proposing something more sinister than a weekend at the amusement park," the Times notes. "He well may have been -- but maybe, too, he was sincere or joking about a Muslim retreat."

"Deciphering such chatter in order to construct a convincing narrative of conspiracy is a challenge," Sontage writes.

Excerpts from Times article:

#

But this is not the version of Padilla -- al-Qaida associate and would-be bomber -- that John Ashcroft, then the attorney general, unveiled in 2002 when he interrupted a trip to Moscow to trumpet Padilla's capture.

....

His criminal trial, scheduled to begin late this month, will feature none of the initial claims about violent plotting with al-Qaida that the government cited as justification for detaining Padilla without formal charges for three and a half years. Those claims came from the government's overseas interrogations of terrorism suspects, such as Abu Zubaydah, which, according to the government, Padilla corroborated, in part, during his own questioning in a military brig in South Carolina.

#

FULL TIMES ARTICLE CAN BE READ AT THIS LINK