The others on trial in Padilla case
The terror case against two of Jose Padilla's codefendants hinges on secretly recorded calls.
from the May 29, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
A few months later in a January telephone conversation, Hassoun allegedly gave an assessment of the situation in the Ethiopia-Somalia border region. "Fifty-eight brothers died.... The attack was repelled [by the brothers], but the Americans used their airplanes … and were bombarding them.... The situation was very harmful to the brothers, but thanks to God, they will be repaid twofold [as religious martyrs]."
According to the indictment, the conversation continued with Hassoun saying: "Whatever we collect, we will be sending over there.... A few [leaders] have called specifically concerning the subject.... [Leaders] of certain war fronts ask for such."
That same day in January 1997, Hassoun spoke to a different colleague using what prosecutors say was a code: "Because they are playing football in Somalia … it's heating up a lot, so we're sending … uh … uniforms … and … uh … sneakers for football over there."
Hassoun's reference to American forces raises questions. US military intervention in Somalia ended in 1994, and United Nations peacekeeping forces pulled out in March 1995. The Ethiopian Defense Ministry announced details of a December 1996 battle, but there was no indication that US forces were supporting Ethiopian troops.
Of the 123 transcribed conversations, federal agents say 79 involve Hassoun. Mr. Padilla's voice can be heard in only seven intercepted conversations. In one, recorded in July 1999, Padilla reportedly requests "an army jacket, a book bag, and a sleeping bag" because there "was a rumor here that the door was open somewhere."
Prosecutors say this is evidence of Padilla's desire to obtain terrorist training from Al Qaeda. His lawyers say Padilla was a recent Muslim convert who wanted to become an Islamic preacher and was seeking out scholars for instruction.
Defense lawyers for all three men say that many of the statements in the government's transcripts are vague and misleading. Of the 300,000 intercepted communications, they say, Arabic translators working for the FBI prepared summaries of only 14,000 calls. Rather than assembling a fair and comprehensive picture of their clients, government translators and agents "cherry-picked" conversations that present their clients in the worst possible light, they say.
It was up to the translators to decide which conversations might interest the FBI case agents. Defense lawyers say the translators were searching for incriminating evidence and ignoring exculpatory evidence. Some 285,000 conversations remain untranslated and effectively off limits to defense lawyers in FBI vaults, the lawyers say.
The electronic surveillance was originally undertaken to gather intelligence information about suspected terrorists rather than to prosecute a criminal case for alleged material support of terrorists. So the usual safeguards required for collection of potential evidence during a criminal investigation did not apply as the surveillance tapes were being produced and monitored, defense lawyers say.
In testimony last week, FBI translator Majed Sam acknowledged that it was up to him to decide which conversations to translate. But he said he pursued no FBI agenda. "My goal is to translate everything in as accurate English as I can," he told the jury.
During cross-examination, Jayyousi defense lawyer Marshall Dore Louis asked Mr. Sam whether he was familiar with the American term "to cherry-pick."
"It means selecting what you want to select," Mr. Louis said.
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