Jordan Times
Thursday, December 30, 2004
Chemical attack plotters reject court-appointed lawyers
AMMAN — Four court-appointed lawyers on Wednesday withdrew from the case of nine men standing trial on charges of plotting the first-ever Al Qaeda chemical attack against vital institutions in the Kingdom.
The nine men are part of a group of 13 suspects, including Jordanian fugitive Abu Mussab Zarqawi, who are charged with plotting to carry out terrorist attacks, possessing and manufacturing explosives with illicit intent, and possessing an automatic weapon with the intent of using it illegally.
“My client, Anas Amin, told me he does not want me to represent him in the case and wants his lawyer to be appointed by the Jordan Bar Association [JBA],” lawyer Abdul Qader told the court. He also told the court that his client informed him that three other defendants have also refused the lawyers who were appointed by the court. “Therefore, and as stipulated in the Bar's bylaws and the profession's code of ethics I call on the court to relieve me from this mission,” Qader said. The tribunal then asked defendants Azmi Jaiousi, 36, the main suspect in the case, Ahmad Abdul Fattah and Hassan Samik, if they wished to appoint new lawyers and they all said they wanted to appoint lawyers via the JBA. In addition to Qader, the court had appointed lawyers Ghazi Zureik, Yousef Udwan and Salah Bader last week to represent the defendants who did not appoint their own lawyers. Presiding Judge Fawaz Bqour said the court retracts its previous decision and “at the same time will contact the JBA to appoint lawyers for the defendants.
” Judge Bqour adjourned the session indefinitely. Other charges against the group include belonging to an illegal organisation, Kataeb Al Tawhid (Battalions of Monotheism), which is believed to be linked to Al Qaeda network, sheltering a wanted person and possessing unlicensed guns. Three other defendants are being tried in absentia on the same charges. If convicted, some of the defendants could face the death penalty. The prosecution charge sheet said Jaiousi left the Kingdom in 1999 for Afghanistan where he met Zarqawi and received training in the manufacture of explosives and the use of detonators. According to the charge sheet, Jaiousi and some of the defendants, who belonged to Kataeb Al Tawhid, decided to “terrify people by using cars laden with explosives as a means to accomplish their goals.
” The group initially decided to target several security officers and launch a rocket attack on the Red Sea resort of Eilat from Aqaba Port, but changed their plans upon Zarqawi's instructions and decided to target the General Intelligence Department, according to the charge sheet. The group's plans were foiled when — in April and May 2004 — the security forces seized trucks laden with explosives, apprehended several suspects and killed four others in a shoot-out in an Amman neighbourhood.