DATE=8/5/1999
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=EMBASSY BOMBINGS - LEGAL CASE
NUMBER=5-44009
BYLINE=ELAINE JOHANSON
DATELINE=NEW YORK
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Five men are in custody in New York on murder
charges related to last year's bombings of the U-S
embassies in Kenya and Tanzania - which claimed over
200 lives. But, so far, no date has been set for a
trial. VOA correspondent Elaine Johanson reports on
the status of the legal case against the accused
terrorists:
TEXT: Seventeen people have been formally charged in
the embassy bombings. Besides the five already in New
York, three are in Britain, awaiting extradition to
the United States. Nine defendants are still
fugitives, including exiled Saudi millionaire Osama
bin Laden - the alleged mastermind of the bombings.
The U-S government has put a five million-dollar
bounty on the heads of the wanted men. The U-S
Attorney's office in New York would like all 17
defendants to stand trial together. But that is not
considered a likely scenario.
Meanwhile, efforts are underway to try the five men in
custody. A number of preliminary hearings have
already been held. A so-called "conference hearing"
is scheduled for September 28, which allows
prosecutors and defense attorneys to review the status
of the case in the presence of a judge. Evidence will
be weighed. The defense could challenge certain parts
of it or ask to see more.
Robert Louden - director of the Criminal Justice
Center at New York's John Jay College - says the
process may look cumbersome to outsiders or grieving
families of the victims. But he says U-S prosecutors
have the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable
doubt and it is the job of the attorneys for the
defendants to make that burden more difficult. Under
the U-S system, it is called protecting the rights of
the accused:
//LOUDEN ACT//
The prosecution is going to constantly be making sure
that they have the strongest possible case before they
go into the trial part of the case. The defense is
going to constantly be making motions and requesting
hearings to try to get various parts of the case
separated or dismissed or downgraded so that they can
weaken the case of the prosecutor. So you have this
constant building of the case on the side of the
prosecution and a constant attack, if you will, on the
case by the defense.
//END ACT//
Mr. Louden believes the embassy bombing case actually
is moving along at a fairly rapid pace - despite the
legal maneuvering:
//LOUDEN ACT//
If you track most major felonious trials, from time of
event is when the clock starts running, if you will.
But from time of apprehension and actual arrest until
time of trial, it's not uncommon to be a year or more
than a year. It's part of the process and it's also
part of reflecting other caseloads and workloads in
the government by people involved. So, the fact that
we're a year later and already talking about getting
ready for trial is pretty quick really.
//END ACT//
The agenda of the embassy bombing case, for the most
part, has been filled with pre-trial hearings that
generate little media attention. A recent session in
June was an exception. One of the defendants jumped
from his seat, bolted past U-S marshals and tried to
attack the judge - who had refused to read into the
record a letter the defendant had written. The
courtroom erupted into chaos. The 71-year old jurist
scrambled behind a chair amid screams of "Allah
Akbar!" ("God is great!") from the other defendants.
Order was restored. The attacker showed marks of
being restrained. But nobody was really hurt. The
case has since moved back to the track of low-key,
high stakes legal arguments among the attorneys, as
they pursue justice American-style. (Signed)
NEB/NY/EJ/LSF/ENE/kl
05-Aug-1999 13:47 PM EDT (05-Aug-1999 1747 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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