Federal prosecutors filed notice Thursday that they will seek the death penalty against Zacarias Moussaoui, the alleged "20th hijacker" who is the only person charged in the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
"I announce today that I have authorized the US attorneys of the Eastern District of Virginia and the Southern District of New York to seek a sentence of death," Attorney General John Ashcroft said Thursday.
"In the notice we have alleged numerous reasons, called 'aggravating factors,' which we believe indicate why the death penalty is appropriate. Among these reasons is the impact of the crime on thousands of victims," Ashcroft said, referring to court papers filed Thursday.
Moussaoui was picked up by the FBI in mid-August after a flight school flagged his behavior as unusual.
The 33-year-old French citizen allegedly trained at one of Osama bin Laden's camps in Afghanistan alongside some of the 19 hijackers who perpetrated the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
He is charged with conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism, to commit aircraft piracy, to destroy aircraft, to use weapons of mass destruction, to murder federal employees and to destroy property.
With consent from Moussaoui's lawyers, US District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema entered a plea of not guilty for him at his arraignment on Jan. 4, after Moussaoui told the court, "In the name of Allah, I do not have anything to plead."
Alleging Participation in 'Heinous, Cruel, and Depraved' Acts
In the "notice of intent" filed this morning with the federal court in Alexandria, Va., the government asserts Moussaoui participated in the Sept. 11 attacks. He is also accused of committing acts in "an especially heinous, cruel and depraved manner in that they involved torture and serious physical abuse to the victims."
As aggravating factors, the government says Moussaoui took advantage of educational opportunities in the United States in order to execute the attack. The notice also cites the enormous number of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, and the impact on victims' families, friends, and co-workers, as well as the city of New York.
Defense Lawyers: Try Case in Court, Not in the Press
Moussaoui's lawyers did not respond to the specific allegations in the notice filed today, but they agan complained Ashcroft's announcements about the case could impede selection of an impartial jury.
"By publicly announcing the government's decision to seek the death penalty, the attorney general is in violation of the local rules governing the behavior of counsel involved in pending matters," said Frank Dunham, a member of Moussaoui's legal team.
"He is supposed to file his 'notice of intent to seek the death penalty' with the court, not announce it to the media," he said. "This public announcement and the many other press conferences the atorney general has had on the subject make it more and more difficult for our client to get a fair trial. We will not comment further on today's announcement. We intend to try our case in court, not in the press."
French Minister, Accused's Mother Speak Out
Opponents of capital punishment in France and other countries had spoken out against seeking the death penalty for Moussaoui.
Moussaoui's mother responded to Thursday's announcement by accusing US officials of "looking for someone's head."
"My son is a scapegoat," Aicha Moussaoui said in France. "They can't find the people who are truly responsible for this crime. My son is not an assassin."
Reacting to Ashcroft's announcement, French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine said France regretted the decision, but would continue to cooperate with the United States in its investigation of global terrorism.
Vedrine said, however, that evidence collected in France against Moussaoui could not be used to help obtain a death sentence against him.
"(France) will see to it that this (evidence) cannot be used as a basis for seeking the death penalty, in a verdict or a sentence of this type," he said.
France outlawed capital punishment in 1981.
Preparing for Victims' Families to Testify
On Monday, the US government began interviewing relatives of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks to decide who will give victim impact statements during the penalty phase in the trial, if Moussaoui is convicted.
Moussaoui was imprisoned on Aug. 17, after raising the suspicions of instructors at a Minnesota flight school. He paid US$6,300 in cash to the Pan Am International Flight Academy in Minnesota to take simulator training courses on the 747 Model 400. FBI and Immigration and Naturalization Service investigators held Moussaoui initially on visa violation charges, but following Sept. 11, he was placed under arrest as a material witness.
Moussaoui reportedly has told authorities he was not involved in the terrorist attacks and simply wanted to learn to fly. But government officials say his activities over the past year mirror those of the hijackers who crashed aircraft into the Pentagon and World Trade Center's twin towers in their suicide missions.
When authorities detained him, they reported finding a variety of incriminating evidence in his possession, including two knives, binoculars, flight manuals for the 747, a flight simulator computer program, shin guards, papers referring to a global positioning device, and a handheld aviation radio.
In an e-mail to the Minnesota flight school, Moussaoui wrote that "my 'Goal,' my dream," would be to "pilot one of these Big Bird," according to a copy of the message obtained by The New York Times.
"I need to know if you can help to achieve my 'Goal,' my dream," he wrote in broken English. Moussaoui acknowledges that his qualifications for training "could be better," but says he is "sure that you can do something."
Jury selection in the case is scheduled to start Sept. 30, with opening statements to follow about two weeks later.
The federal court the Eastern District of Virginia, where Moussaoui is being tried, is nicknamed the "rocket docket," because it offers speedier trials than many other courts.
(China Daily March 29, 2002)
