Any mention of Osama bin Laden or the 9/11 attacks should be banned at the upcoming terrorism trial of handless hate preacher Abu Hamza al-Masri, his lawyers contended in legal papers filed Wednesday.
The lawyers said such references “would completely” deprive the Egyptian Islamic preacher of a fair trial in Manhattan federal court, where he faces charges of setting up a terrorist training camp in Oregon, among other terrorism-related crimes.
“The spectre of September 11th . . . and of this country’s reactions to those attacks, has been and undoubtedly will be on the minds of every juror in every terrorism trial held in the country for the foreseeable future,” his lawyers wrote. “However, to allow the government to make a specific reference at trial to the events of September 11th, or to bin Laden or his associates, would completely deprive [al-Masri] of a fair trial.”
Prosecutors opposed the request, saying that references to bin Laden would not be prejudicial. or inflammatory and are important to presenting their case.
The submission comes several months after the defense lawyers earlier asked that bin Laden’s name be excluded from the trial, scheduled for April 14.