Another Yee-like botch by the prosecution? From Reuters:
U.S. Magistrate David Homer said there was not enough evidence to hold Yassin Aref, 34, and Mohammed Hossain, 49, who were held without bail on Aug. 10 after pleading not guilty to money laundering, supporting a terrorist organization and conspiracy to assassinate a Pakistani diplomat.In the wake of the arrest of the men, other Muslims in Albany -- home to about 7,000 followers of Islam -- have called the case a tragic misunderstanding and many have shied away from attending mosques for fear of being labeled terrorists.
Aref and Hossain were arrested in Albany after authorities said they agreed to help an FBI informant launder $50,000 from the sale of a shoulder-fired missile as part of a fake plan to assassinate Pakistan's ambassador to the United Nations.
Homer released them on $250,000 bond each on Tuesday and ordered them to remain in home detention with electronic surveillance bracelets, but he was caustic in his remarks on the case the government built.
NO TERRORIST LINK
"As compared to Aug. 10, there's no longer any presumption that Mr. Hossain would cause a risk of flight or danger to the community," Homer said. "There still is no evidence of Mr. Hossain's involvement with any terrorist organization.
The judge added: "The strength of the case against Mr. Aref appears less strong than it did appear on Aug. 10.
"There is no evidence ... to support claims that Mr. Aref has any contact with any terrorist organization."
The hearing was the second involving the pair associated with an Albany mosque and was granted after a possible translation error was found in key evidence against them.
At the time, U.S. authorities said the evidence included an address book found in what they called a terrorist training camp in northern Iraq that referred to Aref as "the commander" in Arabic. The Justice Department says FBI translators now read the word as "brother" in Kurdish.
The attorneys for the pair said the translation issue called for a re-examination of the entire case amid criticism that the Bush administration's anti-terrorism policies have led authorities to leap to conclusions in cases that have fizzled or were dropped after initial high-profile announcements.
Defense attorneys argued the government was not merely overzealous in their prosecution but used "false information" against their clients.
"We've gone from something that sounded sinister and ominous and scary and terrible to zero in less than two weeks," said defense attorney Terence Kindlon.
Prosecutors say whether the word is "commander" or "brother" is irrelevant and does not affect the criminal charges the two men face. They say the pair were willing participants in the sting operation set up by the FBI.
I am sure the "moderate" Muslims over at CAIR and the ACLU fifth column
leftists will be celebrating this one.
I sense that Reza, the resident Muslim-puke will be posting it's usual rhetoric on this one.
Perhaps some of you bigots will recall that I posted the following statement when the arrest of these evil, dangerous Muslims was trumpeted here:
"The racial and religious bigotry of most of the people posting here is truely astounding. You cheer and rejoice every time another innocent Muslim is persecuted by intolerant Western governments, regardless of the fact that most such victims eventually are released for lack of evidence after the desired media propaganda storm has been stirred up. Furthermore, almost never are the accused Muslims charged with any overt acts of violence. Rather, they are seized for falling afoul of trivial bureaucratic regulations established precisely for the purpose of entrapping the innocent."
Are you surprised that I was right again? Your repressive government is keeping you fools in a state of continual fear and pretending to "protect" you by regularly announcing trumped-up arrests of innocent Muslims. In this particular case, your government has succeeded in destroying the lives of two innocent families and terrorizing the 7,000-strong Muslim community in Albany, New York.
Are you happy about this?
Do you not understand that your "leaders" have concluded that the triumph of Islam is inevitable? Charades like these arrests are meant only to distract you and to maintain them in power while their real agenda goes forward.
There is no doubt about the ultimate outcome of the current struggle. The United States will come under the wing of the world-wide Islamic Caliphate and all of your corrupt, unjust, man-made laws and systems of government will be replaced by Allah's (swt) devine Sharia.
Now is the time for you to face reality and embrace Islam. Live in peace in accord with the comands of Almighty Allah (swt). Stop warring against Allah (swt) and be part of the bright, shining Islamic future, not a forgotten part of a dim, dying past.
Your grandchildren will be Muslim.
Allahu akbar
I new you couldn't resist posting your Islamo-garbage raisin-head.
I advise that we all stop responding to this ignorant by name Reza. Silent is the best answer for a fool!
Written by,
Ayatollah Dase(swt).
Ayatollah Dase,
I agree with you, I shall hereafter only refer to raisin-head as Muslim-puke.
Muslim -puke,
Your posts are boring and redundant.
Is it not possible for your puny brain to produce any new thoughts.
This is just another example of why we need to change the approach to fighting muslim terrorists here. When we are relatively certain that particular individuals are involved in ANY facet of terrorism - including the sympathisers, financiers, logisticians, recruiters & actual perpetrators - then they should be apprehended, drained of all useful information & terminated with extreme prejudice. The legal system of the USA is not the proper venue to combat these vermin, it needlessly shackles the good guys while providing the bad guys with something approaching immunity. The muslims are using our sense of fair play, honor & goodwill as weapons against us. It is time to remove the shackles & actually fight this as a no-holds barred WAR & FIGHT TO WIN. OVERWHELMINGLY.
Reza:
Why do you accuse us of bigotry when in all of your messages you confirm over and again why we should be suspicious of all Muslims?
Your messages are rife with contradiction, Reza. You speak of "trumped up arrests of innocent Muslims" and in the next paragraph you reaffirm that our vigilance and disdain of hypocrites like you is warranted when you stupidly announce your Islamist intentions.
We are not intimidated by your predictions and silly Islamic delusions of grandeur. And we are not going to give up our freedom, faith, our G-d or our country.
Americans willingly volunteer to fight and die for Iraq's right to freedom and democracy, however you wish to define it. Imagine what we're willing to do to when those same ideals are threatened right here on our own soil.
Underestimate Americans at your own peril.
reza, reza, reza:
Another muslim harassed? Boo f**king hoo. I clap and cheer gleefully whenever I read or hear that a muslim in the West has been denied a visa, fired, insulted, harassed, profiled, etc. Harass, harass, harass, I say. Did you think it was going to be easy?
You know what's sad about you, raisin? You think that because you're educated and have some piece of paper from some barely-accredited university hanging on your hovel's wall that you're some valued warrior among the umma.
Even your own ideology prefers the unlearned over the educated. Have you deluded yourself into thinking that because you're waging jihad from a computer, you're seen as an equal to the jihadists building bombs, dodging bullets and firing RPGs? Your own manifesto claims the superiority of armed jihadists over armchair jihadists.
The battlefield jihadists will use you and your education, all right. Then they'll remind you of their greater contribution to the cause and put you in your place: cleaning their shoes or in a grave.
Mo-ham-mad, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot: they all killed the intelligentsia first. Good luck taking over the world. I'd love to be there when your unwashed, tooth-decayed, illiterate gun-toting jihadist brethren turn on your educated *ss.
My grandchildren will be dead before they're muslim.
Reza - your bright, shining Islamic future is at the bottom of a butt-pyramid.
While I do not want to be associated with comments from fanatics like reza, he has one thing almost right.
The war on terroristic muslims is being fought by our government, and like all government programs, it is run in a foolish way.
"Sting" operations are a lazy way to catch terrorists, since almost anyone can be induced to commit a "crime" is the government agents make the pecuniary gain seem high enough. Our laws forbid entrapment, yet the rewards for making high profile arrests are greater than the drawbacks of having a case dismissed.
The Albany defendants may well dislike, and even hate America, but such a belief is their legal right. Creating a crime, as in this case (the government provided the buyer AND the seller) is, on the other hand, NOT legal. It is, however, much easier than ferreting out the REAL terrorists.
CAIR is the enemy. Learn and know the truth and pass it on.
http://www.anti-cair-net.org
These two guys are just being used to tickle the wire.
Looks like our courts have run amuck? The American people will not put up with this kind of B.S and will make a change that the Judges the lib's wont like?
I don't know many people who are caught in a sting to take out another countrys diplomat and get off because they might have misread a paper in a terrorist killer state?
These guys were caught with all but pulling the triger?
Good thing the gun was not smoking because some-one would be dead?
This is what happens when you elect Lib Democrats!!
Your home town can be held hostage by terrorist Looks like N.J needs a change From the Homosexaul Democrat in the Governers Office and the Lib Judges who have their hand out to the mob for pay outs now are taken Mulsum money they only see green that is what happens with people who Blow in the Wind!!![LIB'S DEMOCRATS]
Part of the American Tribe
God Bless the USA and her Fighting Forces and All who Fight with her give them Strength,Wisdom and Courage to stay the course to Victory Amen