Yasin Omar, one of the suspected failed 21st July bombers, has been charged with conspiracy to murder, attempted murder, and possessing an explosive substance. Unfortunately, his court appearance will be in a special anti-terrorism court inside Belmarsh Prison, rather than in open court where it belongs.
If we really want to defeat terrorism and show that life will go on as usual, then the way to do it is to treat terrorists for what they are: criminals to be prosecuted, not monsters to be slain.
4 comments:
People expect more from our justice system than it can possibly deliver. it has many objectives so it is likely to be frustrating for many people to realise that yes we all know the guy committed "crime x" but we will convict him for some other crime in order to get him to not drag out the court case on a technicality or to get him to assist in another conviction or whatever.
I expect it possible to build a good case for "possession of explosives" and similar charges but not for "terrorism" assuming he has a good defence lawyer.
The acceptable victory for the prosecution will thus be a defeat for justice in the eyes of the public.
If enough terrorists get tried in public and get found not guilty on the major crimes then you will just undermine your own justice system.
Posted by Genius : 8/07/2005 12:51:00 PM
"Genius": Omar isn't charged with any terrorism-related offence. He is charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to murder - both very serious charges carrying long terms in jail. And I don't think those charges are any compromise or backdown; instead, they capture precisely what terrorism is all about: murdering people. And the only reason the prosecution will fail is if the police have grossly failed to do their job and collect enough evidence to secure a conviction.
The "posession of explosives" charge is simply a bonus.
Posted by Idiot/Savant : 8/07/2005 01:39:00 PM
My point is a good defence should be able to defend against any charge of "conspiracy to murder" or anything with that aspect to it (i.e. accept the facts sure he had the bomb but was he going to kill anyone?)
The only reason why they would fail to do so is if they failed to do their job.
all the police can do is to make that job harder.
Posted by Genius : 8/07/2005 04:02:00 PM
I think it's a normal open committal proceedings, just in a special secure court - it was reported and I think the public could go along.
Posted by Rich : 8/09/2005 08:50:00 AM
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