Fear God (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

FEAR GOD

Revelation 14: 7 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 7Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. 8And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. 8And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. 9And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 10The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 11And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. 12Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.14For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Universality and Cosmology

ANALYZING UNDERLYING IMPETUSES AS REFLECTED IN HISTORY (1840's-present)
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Universitarianism reflected in religions, military, and politics. (1800's) III

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Showing posts with label New York. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New York. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Abner Louima

Abner Louima

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Jump to: navigation, search
Abner Louima
Born 1966
Thomassin, Haiti
Abner Louima (b. 1966 in Thomassin, Haiti) is a Haitian who was assaulted, brutalized and forcibly sodomized with the handle of a bathroom plunger by New York City police officers after being arrested outside a Brooklyn nightclub in 1997.

Contents

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[edit] Background and incident

In 1997, 30-year-old Abner Louima was married, had one child, and had been living in Brooklyn for the previous six years. Although he had trained as an electrical engineer in Haiti, Louima worked as a security guard in a water-and-sewage plant in Flatlands, Brooklyn.[1]
On August 9, 1997, Louima visited Club Rendez-Vous, a popular nightclub in East Flatbush. Late in the night, he and several other men interceded in a fight between two women. The police were called and several officers from the 70th Precinct were dispatched to the scene. There was a confrontation between the police, patrons and bystanders involved in the scuffle outside the club. The responding patrol officers included Justin Volpe, Charles Schwarz, Thomas Bruder, and Thomas Wiese, among others. In the ensuing scuffle, Volpe was struck by a "sucker-punch" and identified Louima as his assailant. Volpe arrested Louima on charges of disorderly conduct, obstructing government administration, and resisting arrest.
The arresting officers beat Louima with their fists, nightsticks, and hand-held police radios on the ride to the station.[2] On arriving at the station house, he was strip-searched and put in a holding cell. The beating continued later, culminating with Louima being sexually assaulted in a bathroom at the 70th Precinct station house in Brooklyn. Volpe kicked Louima in the testicles, then, while Louima's hands were cuffed behind his back, he first grabbed onto and squeezed his testicles and then sodomized him with a broken broom stick, causing severe internal damage to his colon and bladder that required several operations to repair. Volpe then walked through the precinct holding the bloody, excrement-stained instrument in his hand, indicating that he had "broke a man down."
Louima's teeth were also badly damaged in the attack by having the plunger handle jammed into his mouth.[3] He testified to the presence of a second officer in the bathroom helping Volpe in the assault but he could not positively identify him. The identity of the second attacker became a point of serious contention during the trial and appeals. Louima also initially claimed that the officers involved in the attack called him a "nigger" and shouted, "This is Giuliani-time" during the beating.[4] Louima later recanted this claim, and the reversal was used by defense lawyers to cast doubt on the entirety of his testimony.[5]
The day after the incident, Louima was taken to the emergency room at Coney Island Hospital. Escorting officers explained away his serious injuries being a result of "abnormal homosexual activities". An emergency room nurse, Magalie Laurent, suspecting the nature of Louima's extreme injuries were not the result of gay sex, notified Louima's family and the Police Department's Internal Affairs Bureau of the likelihood of sexual assault and battery.[2] Louima was hospitalized for two months after the incident.[6]

[edit] Public reaction

The incident provoked outrage among the Haitian and other minority communities in New York City, as well as nationally. On August 29, 1997, an estimated 7,000 demonstrators marched on to the New York City Hall and the 70th Precinct station house where the attack took place. The march was dubbed "Day of Outrage Against Police Brutality and Harassment."[7]
The Abner Louima case was mentioned in the 1998 Amnesty International report on the United States of America among several other cases of reported police brutality, torture and abuse.[8] Amnesty International also uses the incident as a case study on a treatise in the campaign against torture.[9]
Mike McAlary, a New York Daily News journalist won the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary for his exposé of the brutalization of Louima by NYPD officers.[10]

[edit] Criminal trials

Justin Volpe, after his conviction and incarceration, said he was "sorry"
Volpe initially pleaded not guilty to several counts of violating Louima's civil rights, obstruction of justice, and making false statements to police.[11] Midway through the trial, Volpe changed his plea to guilty, confessing to having sodomized Louima. Despite the fact that Louima had several broken teeth, Volpe denied that he ever struck Louima in the mouth with the stick and claimed that he only put it very close to Louima's mouth. Volpe also admitted that he had threatened Louima's life.[12] On December 13, 1999, Volpe was sentenced to 30 years in prison without the possibility of parole, a $525 fine and restitution in the amount of $277,495.[13][14]
Charles Schwarz was convicted on June 27, 2000 for helping Volpe assault Louima in the bathroom and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.[15] At the time of his conviction, there were numerous questions raised about whether he could receive a fair trial in the highly charged atmosphere.[16] Volpe identified Thomas Wiese, not Schwarz, as the second man in a recorded interview on news show 60 Minutes, a fact not brought up in the trial. The conviction was overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which found that Schwarz was denied a fair trial.[17] However, in 2002 he pleaded guilty to a perjury charge for testifying that he did not lead Louima to the bathroom, and was sentenced to five years in prison. His request for leniency was rejected on March 30, 2006. He was released to a halfway house in February 2007 with plans to move to the northern United States to work as a carpenter.[18]
Three other NYPD officers, Thomas Bruder, Michael Bellomo and Thomas Wiese were indicted for their involvement in trying to cover up the assault. On March 9, 2000, Thomas Weise and Thomas Bruder along with Charles Schwarz were convicted on the charge of conspiracy to obstruct a federal investigation into the assault on Louima, but their conviction was reversed by a federal appeals court in February 2002 on the grounds of insufficient evidence.[19] Michael Bellomo was found not guilty of trying to cover up the beating of Louima and that of another Haitian immigrant by Volpe earlier that evening.[20]

[edit] Aftermath

Louima's subsequent civil suit against the city resulted in a settlement of $8.75 million on July 30, 2001, the largest police brutality settlement in New York City history.[21] After legal fees, Louima collected approximately $5.8 million.[22]
In February 2003, Abner Louima visited his family still living in Haiti.[23] There he discussed the setting up of the Abner Louima Foundation, a nonprofit organization with the hopes to raise money to build a community center and much-needed hospital in Haiti. Louima indicated he had plans to use his own money and donations to open community centers in Haiti, New York and Florida for Haitians and others seeking legal, financial or other aid. Louima also paid the school tuition for 14 poor children in Thomassin, a small community where he grew up. During his visit to Haiti, he met with the President of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a former priest who Louima knew from his school days. In a rare interview; Louima said he's convinced he can make a difference in his impoverished homeland, "Maybe God saved my life for a reason, I believe in doing the right thing."[22]
Louima currently resides in Miami Lakes, Florida,[5][24] owning homes in suburban Miami and Port-au-Prince, with several investment properties in Florida.[22]
Louima has since participated in anti-police-brutality protests with Al Sharpton, notably over the shooting death of Sean Bell in 2006, and on August 9, 2007, exactly 10 years after his attack. On the latter date, Louima was honored in New York City by the National Action Network, at the House of Justice, for his courage and perseverance in seeking justice, in addition to his dedication to helping others who have suffered from police brutality.[dead link][25]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Herszenhorn, D. (1997.) "Family Describes a Readily Friendly Man". The New York Times, Metropolitan Desk Late Edition - Final. pp. Section B, Page 3, Column 1.; August 13, 1997.
  2. ^ a b Brenner, M. (1997.)"Incident in the 70th Precinct" Vanity Fair, reprinted on MarieBrenner.com. Retrieved December 6, 2006.
  3. ^ BBC News. (1999.) "Haitian confronts alleged tormentors". BBC.com. Retrieved December 7, 2006.
  4. ^ Hinojosa, M. (1997.) "NYC officer arrested in alleged sexual attack on suspect". CNN.com. Retrieved December 6, 2006.
  5. ^ a b Dwyer, J. (2002.)"Abner Louima Today" The New York Times, reprinted on Mindfully.org Retrieved December 6, 2006.
  6. ^ The New York Times, August 9, 2007. "The Abner Louima Case, 10 Years Later". The New York Times "The Lede" blog. Retrieved August 9, 2007.
  7. ^ Karl, J. and P. Tyre. (1997.) "Demonstrators in New York protest police brutality". CNN.com. Retrieved December 6, 2006.
  8. ^ Amnesty International. (1998.) "AI Report 1998: United States of America". Amnesty.org. Retrieved December 6, 2006.
  9. ^ Amnesty International. (2000.) "Take a Step to Stamp Out Torture". Amnesty.org. Retrieved December 6, 2006.
  10. ^ The Pulitzer Prizes. (1998.) "The Pulitzer Prize winner, 1998 for Distinguished Commentary". Pulitzer.org. Retrieved December 13, 2006.
  11. ^ Grand Jury, United States District Court, Eastern District of New York. (1998.) "U.S. v. Volpe, et al." Grand jury indictment, reproduced on CourtTV.com. Retrieved December 6, 2006.
  12. ^ CNN News. (1999.) "30-year sentence for N.Y. policeman in torture of black man". CNN.com. Retrieved December 6, 2006.
  13. ^ BBC News. (1999.) "NYPD Officer Jailed for Brutality". BBC.com. Retrieved December 6, 2006.
  14. ^ Draper, Robert. "Say a Prayer for Justin Volpe; This NYC cop is doing 30 years without parole for what he did with a broomstick in a bathroom. Can you see him as more than a monster? His parents hope so". GQ. pp. 19. http://www.gq.com/news-politics/newsmakers/200506/justin-volpe-sodomy-abner-louima-brooklyn-police. Retrieved 2008-12-11. 
  15. ^ BBC News. (1999.) "NYPD Officer Jailed for Brutality" (same source and article title, different content). BBC.com. Retrieved December 6, 2006.
  16. ^ Siegel, N. (2001.) "Why Police Officer Charles Schwarz, Convicted in the Abner Louima Case, Deserves a New Trial". Findlaw.com. Retrieved December 6, 2006.
  17. ^ Hentoff, N. (2002.) "Schwarz: Justice or Technicalities?". The Village Voice. Retrieved December 6, 2006.
  18. ^ Louima Officer Returns to State To Finish Term, The New York Times, 2007-02-04, Retrieved on 2007-03-17.
  19. ^ BBC News. (2002.) "Convictions against NY police reversed". BBC.com. Retrieved December 6, 2006
  20. ^ New York City Counsel, Governmental Affairs Division, Committee on Fire and Criminal Justice Services. (2002.) "Res No. 91A-2002". Retrieved December 6, 2006.
  21. ^ BBC News. (2001.) "New York Pays for Police Brutality". BBC.com. Retrieved December 6, 2006.
  22. ^ a b c James I. (2003.) "Louima turns to Haitian philanthrophy". Associated Press. reprinted in Wehaitians.com Retrieved December 7, 2006.
  23. ^ Wehaitians.com gallery. (2003.) "Abner Louima, from dirt-poor to a great many times a millionaire and ultra-celebrity". Wehaitians.com. Retrieved December 7, 2006.
  24. ^ Greene, Leonard and Stefanie Cohen. (2007). "Louima's Haunted High Life Ten Years Later". The New York Post. Retrieved July 30, 2007.
  25. ^ Associated Press. (2007). "Louima remembers New York police torture case on 10th anniversary". "Abner Louima and Rev. Al Sharpton to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Louima's Attack". National Action Network. Retrieved August 9, 2007.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abner_Louima"
Posted by MICHAEL at Tuesday, November 09, 2010
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Lynne Stewart

Lynne Stewart

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For the actress, see Lynne Marie Stewart.
Lynne Feltham Stewart

Lynne Stewart
Born October 8, 1939
Occupation Prisoner (formerly an attorney)
Lynne Feltham Stewart (born October 8, 1939) was an attorney that represented controversial, and often unpopular defendants.
In 2005, Stewart was convicted on charges of conspiracy and providing material support to terrorists,[1] and sentenced to 28 months in prison. Her felony conviction led to her being automatically disbarred. She was convicted of helping pass messages from her client, Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, an Egyptian cleric convicted of planning terror attacks, to his followers in al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, an organization designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States Secretary of State.[2]
She was re-sentenced on July 15, 2010, to 10 years in prison in light of her perjury at her trial, and other factors not properly considered against her by the sentencing judge.[3]

Contents

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[edit] Education

Stewart was educated at Hope College, American University, and graduated with a B.A. in political science from Wagner College. She received a Masters in Library Science from Pratt Institute, and a J.D. from Rutgers School of Law-Newark.

[edit] The Abdel-Rahman case

Omar Abdel-Rahman
Stewart was convicted of providing material support (through a press conference and allowing access by her translator) to a terrorist conspiracy to kill persons outside of the United States and conspiring to defraud the U.S. government when acting as counsel to Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, the blind Egyptian cleric who was convicted in 1996 of plotting terrorist attacks against various sites in the New York City area. Specifically, she was accused, in a federal grand jury indictment, of passing Rahman's blessing for a resumption of terrorist operations to his fundamentalist Muslim terrorist cell in Egypt after cell members inquired whether they should continue to honor a ceasefire agreement with the Egyptian government.[4] The material support charges were dismissed in the summer of 2003, but in November 2003 Stewart was re-indicted[5] on charges of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism. She was convicted on these charges.
Stewart had accepted the condition that, in order to be allowed to meet with Abdel Rahman in prison, she would not "use [their] meetings, correspondence, or phone calls with Abdel Rahman to pass messages between third parties (including, but not limited to, the media) and Abdel Rahman".
Stewart claims that the dispute was over one communication on behalf of her client to his supporters via a Reuters article, followed by a clarification after it appeared to have been misinterpreted. The clarification said: "I [Omar Abdel-Rahman] am not withdrawing my support of the cease-fire, I am merely questioning it and I am urging you, who are on the ground there to discuss it and to include everyone in your discussions as we always have done."[6][7]
According to Judge John G. Koeltl,
A rational jury could have inferred that, by relaying a statement withdrawing support for a cessation of violence by an influential, pro-violence leader of a terrorist group, Stewart knew that she was providing support to those within the IG who sought to return to violence—who the jury could have found were participants in the Count Two conspiracy, particularly Taha.
(IG stands for Islamic Group, which was identified as a terrorist organization by the Secretary of State).[7]
Judge Koeltl also mentioned how attorneys Ramsey Clark and Abdeen Jabarra refused to issue letters publicly when given the opportunity to do it.[7] However, when Ramsey Clark was interviewed about the case on Democracy Now! on February 11, 2005, he said:
It is clear that Lynne Stewart and the truth and the Constitution of the United States are all victims of 9/11 and of a repressive government that is taking advantage of the fear that they have helped create arising from that that is destroying freedom in this country...This case would never have been brought except for the fear generated and the advantage that the Bush administration was taking of it by the events on September 11, 2001. In ordinary times and circumstances, it would be recognized that everything that Lynne did was exactly what an effective attorney representing a client zealously would be obligated to do...I don’t know of anything that Lynne did that I didn’t do. We did what we had to do to represent our clients. And if you don’t do that, then you don’t have truth before the jury or before the public and you don’t have the Constitutional right to the assistance of counsel.[6]
Michael Tigar, her attorney, gave his opinion of the significance of Ramsey Clark coming to her defense. Claiming the U.S. government was running 'concentration camps', he said:
Ramsey Clark set an example here because he didn’t have to come to court and stand up for Lynne, but he did it, and it shows that this case really is a threat to all the lawyers who are out there attempting to represent people that face these terrible consequences...The only way that we will ever get to the bottom of the American concentration camp abuses at Gitmo and Abu Ghraib is that if the lawyers for these prisoners are permitted to tell their stories to the world. If the government can shut off that communication, which they have attempted to do over and over and over again, these activities will continue in secret.[6]
Tigar had also represented Terry Nichols in the Oklahoma City bombing case. Supporters of Stewart alleged that the government charged her for her speech in defending the rights of her client. They believed that Stewart's efforts to release communications from her client were part of an appropriate defense method to gain public awareness and support. They also expressed alarm that wiretaps and hidden cameras authorized by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act were used by the Government to gather evidence against her, which they called a violation of attorney-client privilege. George Soros' Open Society Institute also donated $20,000 to Stewart's legal defense fund in 2002.[8]

[edit] Conviction

On February 10, 2005, following a nine-month trial and 13 days of jury deliberations, Stewart was found guilty of conspiracy, providing material support to terrorists, and defrauding the U.S. government. Co-defendants Mohamed Yousry and Ahmed Sattar were found guilty as charged.[9][10] Her conviction meant automatic disbarment, and on October 16, 2006, Judge Koeltl sentenced Stewart to 28 months in prison.[11] Sattar is serving his sentence at the Federal Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado.[12]

[edit] Sentencing submissions

In a letter to the court dated September 26, 2006, Stewart stated that her actions were consistent with how she had always represented her clients, but that she had failed to recognize the difference in a post-2001 America and, in hindsight, should have been more careful to avoid misinterpretation. Claiming that persons with 'other agendas' had misinterpreted her actions, she said: "I inadvertently allowed those with other agendas to corrupt the most precious and inviolate basis of our profession – the attorney-client relationship."[13]
The New York Times reported Stewart "acknowledged ... that she knowingly violated prison rules and was careless, overemotional and politically naïve in her representation of a terrorist client."[14]
Stewart requested that the Court exercise the sentencing discretion given judges by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in U.S. v. Booker, and impose a non-custodial sentence. The government requested that the Court impose the maximum statutory penalty, saying, "We hope that this sentence of 30 years will not only punish Stewart for her actions, but serve as a deterrent for other lawyers who believe that they are above the rules and regulations of penal institutions or otherwise try to skirt the laws of this country."
Stewart's original sentencing was to be in July 2005, but Stewart's defense team had repeatedly asked for and received numerous adjournments (delaying sentencing for over a year) due to her needing treatment for breast cancer.
In explaining his refusal to either impose the 30-year sentence proposed by the prosecution or waive jail time entirely as Stewart had requested, the judge said that during her long career of representing unpopular clients Stewart had "performed a public service, not only to her clients, but to the nation," but that her actions in this case constituted "extraordinarily severe criminal conduct".[15]
Stewart and Yousry were free on bail pending decision of their appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The appeal was orally argued January 29, 2008. At the same time the court heard the Government's argument that the sentence for the crimes was too lenient.

[edit] Re-sentencing; 10 years

On November 17, 2009, the Court of Appeals affirmed their convictions, ordered the district court to revoke their bail immediately, and remanded the case for resentencing in light of Stewart's possible perjury at her trial and other factors not properly considered against her by the sentencing judge.[16]
On November 19, 2009, Stewart surrendered to U.S. Marshals in New York City to begin serving a 28-month sentence as prisoner #53504-054. On July 15, 2010, Stewart was re-sentenced by Judge Koeltl on remand to 10 years in prison, taking into consideration her perjury at her trial and other factors as directed by the appellate court.[17]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Lynne Stewart still combative after terror verdict". Thevillager.com. http://www.thevillager.com/vil_94/lynnestewart.html. Retrieved March 18, 2010. 
  2. ^ "''Terrorismknowledgebase.org''". Tkb.org. http://www.tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=3760MIPT. Retrieved March 18, 2010. 
  3. ^ New York Post: Attorney who helped terrorist gets 10 years in prison Published 15 July 2010. Accessed 15 July 2010
  4. ^ "''Department of Justice''". Usdoj.gov. http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2003/November/03_crm_631.htm. Retrieved March 18, 2010. 
  5. ^ "''findlaw.com''". News.findlaw.com. http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/terrorism/uslstwrt111903sind.html. Retrieved March 18, 2010. 
  6. ^ a b c "Convicted Attorney Lynne Stewart: "You Can't Lock Up the Lawyers"". Democracy Now. February 11, 2005. http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/02/11/1545229&mode=thread&tid=25. Retrieved October 16, 2006. 
  7. ^ a b c UNITED STATES of America v. Ahmed Abdel SATTAR, a/k/a “Abu Omar,” a/k/a “Dr. Ahmed,” Lynne Stewart, and Mohammed Yousry, Defendants. No. S1 02 CR. 395(JGK). Oct. 24, 2005.
  8. ^ Byron YorkSoros Funded Stewart Defense; National Review
  9. ^ "Superseding Indictment: U.S. v. Ahmed Abdel Sattar, Lynne Stewart, and Mohammed Yousry". News.findlaw.com. http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/terrorism/uslstwrt111903sind.html. Retrieved March 18, 2010. 
  10. ^ "Civil rights attorney convicted in terror trial – February 10, 2005". CNN.com. February 14, 2005. http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/02/10/terror.trial.lawyer/. Retrieved March 18, 2010. 
  11. ^ [1][dead link]
  12. ^ "Federal Bureau of Prisons". Bop.gov. http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=NameSearch&needingMoreList=false&FirstName=ahmed&Middle=&LastName=sattar&Race=U&Sex=U&Age=&x=0&y=0. Retrieved March 18, 2010. 
  13. ^ http://www.lynnestewart.org/Stewart%20Letter%20(Ex%201)%20scanned.pdf
  14. ^ Preston, Julia (September 29, 2006). "Lawyer in Terror Case Apologizes for Violating Special Prison Rules". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/29/nyregion/29stewart.html?_r=1&oref=slogin. Retrieved May 12, 2010. 
  15. ^ "Americas | US lawyer jailed on terror charge". BBC News. October 16, 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6057200.stm. Retrieved March 18, 2010. 
  16. ^ Gendar, Alison; Goldsmith, Samuel (November 17, 2009). "Conviction of disbarred lawyer Lynne Stewart upheld for smuggling messages to jailed terrorist". New York: Nydailynews.com. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/11/17/2009-11-17_conviction_of_disbarred_lawyer_lynne_stewart_upheld_for_smuggling_messages_to_ja.html. Retrieved March 18, 2010. 
  17. ^ Shifrel, Scott; Fanelli, James (July 15, 2010). "Lynn Stewart, 70-year-old radical lawyer, sentenced to 10 years in prison for aiding bomb plotter". Daily News (New York). http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/07/15/2010-07-15_lynn_stewart_70yearold_radical_lawyer_sentenced_to_10_years_in_prison_for_aiding.html. 

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynne_Stewart"
Posted by MICHAEL at Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Labels: , ,

Omar Abdel-Rahman

Omar Abdel-Rahman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Omar Abdel-Rahman
Born May 3, 1938 (1938-05-03) (age 72)
Al Gammaliyyah, Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt
Conviction(s) Seditious conspiracy
Penalty Life imprisonment
Status Incarcerated at FMC Butner Medical Center
Spouse Aisha Hassan Gouda
A. Zohdi
Children 10
Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman (Arabic: عمر عبد الرحمن‎, ‘Umar ‘Abd ar-Raḥman; born 3 May 1938), commonly known in the United States as "The Blind Sheikh", is a blind Egyptian Muslim leader who is currently serving a life sentence at the Butner Medical Center which is part of the Butner Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina, United States. Formerly a resident of New York City, Abdel-Rahman and nine others were convicted of seditious conspiracy,[1] which requires only that a crime be planned, not that it necessarily be attempted. His prosecution grew out of investigations of the World Trade Center 1993 bombings.
Abdel-Rahman was accused of being the leader of Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya (also known as "The Islamic Group"), a militant Islamist movement in Egypt that is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and Egyptian governments. The group is responsible for many acts of violence, including the November 1997 Luxor massacre, in which 58 foreign tourists and four Egyptians were killed.
Abdel-Rahman has declared that the United States "certainly will kill me" in jail.[2]

Contents

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[edit] Youth

Abdel-Rahman was born in the city of Al Gammaliyyah, Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt, in 1938. He lost his eyesight at a young age due to childhood diabetes. He studied a Braille version of the Qur'an as a child and developed an interest in the works of the Islamic purists Ibn Taymiyah and Sayyid Qutb. After graduating in Qur'anic studies from Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the Egyptian government imprisoned him because he was an opponent of the regime. Abdel-Rahman became one of the most prominent and outspoken Muslim clerics to denounce Egypt’s secularism.

[edit] Family

Omar has two wives who have borne him 10 children: Aisha Hassan Gouda (7 sons), and A. Zohdi (3 children).[3] His sons include Abdullah, Ahmed, Mohammed Omar Abdel-Rahman and Asim Abdulrahman.[4]

[edit] Prison in Egypt

During the 1970s, Abdel-Rahman developed close ties with two of Egypt’s most militant organizations, Egyptian Islamic Jihad and Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya ("The Islamic Group"). By the 1980s, he had emerged as the leader of Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, although he was still revered by followers of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which at the time was being led by Ayman al-Zawahiri, later to become an Al Qaeda principal. Abdel-Rahman spent three years in Egyptian jails where he was tortured[citation needed] as he awaited trial on charges of issuing a fatwa resulting in the 1981 assassination of Anwar Sadat by Egyptian Islamic Jihad.

[edit] Afghan mujaheddin

Although Abdel-Rahman was not convicted of conspiracy in the Sadat assassination, he was expelled from Egypt following his acquittal. He made his way to Afghanistan in the mid-1980s where he contacted his former professor, Abdullah Azzam, co-founder of Maktab al-Khadamat (MAK) along with Osama bin Laden. Rahman built a strong rapport with bin Laden during the Afghan war against the Soviets, and following Azzam’s murder in 1989 Rahman assumed control of the international jihadists arm of MAK/Al Qaeda.[citation needed]
In July 1990, Abdel-Rahman went to New York City to gain control of MAK’s financial and organizational infrastructure in the United States.

[edit] Activities in the US

“ If those who have the right to have something are terrorists, then we are terrorists., and we welcome being terrorists...the Quran makes it, terrorism, among the means to perform jihad in the sake of Allah, which is to terrorise the enemies of God ”
—Omar Abdel-Rahman, 1993[5]
Abdel-Rahman was issued a tourist visa to visit the US despite his name being listed on a US State Department terrorist watch list. Rahman entered the United States, in July 1990, via Saudi Arabia, Peshawar, and Sudan.
He traveled widely in the United States and Canada. Despite the U.S. support for the mujahideen in Afghanistan, Abdel-Rahman was deeply anti-American and spoke out against it, safe in the knowledge that he was speaking Arabic and unmonitored by any law enforcement agency. He issued a fatwa in America that declared lawful the robbing of banks and killing of Jews in America. His sermons condemned Americans as the "descendants of apes and pigs who have been feeding from the dining tables of the Zionists, Communists, and colonialists".[6] He called on Muslims to assail the West, "cut the transportation of their countries, tear it apart, destroy their economy, burn their companies, eliminate their interests, sink their ships, shoot down their planes, kill them on the sea, air, or land".[7]
Preaching at three mosques in the New York City area, Abdel-Rahman was soon surrounded by a core group of devoted followers that included persons who became responsible for the World Trade Center 1993 bombings. One of Rahman's followers, El Sayyid Nosair, was linked to the assassination of Israeli nationalist Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the Jewish Defense League. He was subsequently acquitted of murder but convicted on gun possession charges.
Steven Emerson's 1994 television documentary Terrorists Among Us: Jihad in America contains a video of Abdel-Rahman in Detroit calling for jihad against the "infidel".[8]
Nosair later stood trial as a co-conspirator of Rahman. Both men received life sentences for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, conspiracy to use explosives against New York landmarks, and plotting to assassinate U.S. politicians. Nosair received life plus 15 years of imprisonment.[9] Nosair's relatives obtained funds to pay for Nosair's defense from Osama bin Laden.[10]

[edit] Arrest and conviction

After the first World Trade Center bombing in February 1993, the FBI began to investigate Rahman and his followers more closely. With the assistance of an Egyptian informant wearing a listening device, the FBI managed to record Rahman issuing a fatwa encouraging acts of violence against US civilian targets, particularly in the New York and New Jersey metropolitan area. The most startling plan, the government charged, was to set off five bombs in 10 minutes, blowing up the United Nations, the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, the George Washington Bridge and a federal building housing the FBI. (See New York City landmark bomb plot.) Government prosecutors showed videotapes of defendants mixing bomb ingredients in a garage before their arrest in 1993. Rahman was arrested on 24 June 1993, along with nine of his followers.[11] On 1 October 1995, he was convicted of seditious conspiracy, and in 1996 was sentenced to life in prison.[12]
Rahman, with the Federal Bureau of Prisons ID# 34892-054, is located in Butner Federal Medical Center.[13]

[edit] Legacy

Abdel-Rahman’s imprisonment has become a rallying point for Islamic militants around the world, including Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. In 1997, members of his group Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya conducted two attacks against European visitors to Egypt, including the massacre of 58 tourists at Deir el-Bahri in Luxor. In addition to killing women and children, the attackers mutilated a number of bodies and distributed leaflets throughout the scene demanding Rahman’s release.[citation needed]
In 2005, members of Rahman’s legal team, including ex-lawyer Lynne Stewart, were convicted of facilitating communication between the imprisoned Sheikh and members of the terrorist organization Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya in Egypt.

[edit] See also

Egypt portal
United States portal
Biography portal

[edit] References

  1. ^ Perez, Richard (1995-10-02). "THE TERROR CONSPIRACY - THE CHARGES - THE TERROR CONSPIRACY - THE CHARGES - A Gamble Pays Off as the Prosecution Uses an Obscure 19th-Century Law - NYTimes.com". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F04E3DC1539F931A35753C1A963958260. Retrieved 2010-04-08. 
  2. ^ "Reuters AlertNet – Islamist Web site warns US over ailing jailed cleric". Alertnet.org. 2006-12-20. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L20527440.htm. Retrieved 2010-04-08. 
  3. ^ "Omar Abdel-Rahman". Nndb.com. http://www.nndb.com/people/923/000099626/. Retrieved 2010-04-08. 
  4. ^ Sued Deutsche, In der Trutzburg des sanften Scheichs, 23 September 2001
  5. ^ Benjamin, Daniel & Steven Simon. "The Age of Sacred Terror", 2002
  6. ^ Kohlmann, Evan F., Al-Qaida's Jihad in Europe, Berg Publishers, 25 November 2004, p.26
  7. ^ Kohlmann, Evan F., Al-Qaida's Jihad in Europe, p.185
  8. ^ Goodman, Walter (1994-11-21). "Goodman, Walter, "Television Review; In 'Jihad in America,' Food for Uneasiness," ''The New York Times'', 21 November 1994, accessed 21 January 2010". Nytimes.com. http://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/21/arts/television-review-in-jihad-in-america-food-for-uneasiness.html?pagewanted=1. Retrieved 2010-04-08. 
  9. ^ "USA v. Omar Ahmad Ali Abdel-Rahman et al.: 93-CR-181-KTD". http://www.tkb.org/CaseHome.jsp?caseid=332. 
  10. ^ Smith, Greg B. (9 October 2002). "Bin Laden bankrolled Kahane killer defense". New York Daily News. 
  11. ^ "Sedition – Further Readings". Law.jrank.org. http://law.jrank.org/pages/10113/Sedition.html. Retrieved 2010-04-08. 
  12. ^ "Terrorism in the United States". Fas.org. http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/fbi_terror95/terrorin.htm#anchoNewYork. Retrieved 2010-04-08. 
  13. ^ "Omar Ahmad Rahman." Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved on May 21, 2010.

[edit] Further reading

  • Gunaratna, R. 2002 ‘Inside Al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror’. Scribe Publications: Carlton.
  • Lance, P. 2003 ‘1000 Years For Revenge: International Terrorism and The FBI’. HarperCollins: New York

[edit] External links

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Posted by MICHAEL at Tuesday, November 09, 2010
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