A federal jury in New York on Tuesday convicted a Bosnian-born U.S. citizen of nine counts of terrorism in connection with an aborted subway suicide bombing plot in 2009.
Defense lawyers for Adis Medunjanin argued that he had renounced a plot with two former high school friends, Najibullah Zazi and Zarein Ahmedzay, to detonate bombs in crowded New York City subways.
Zazi and Ahmedzay, both of Afghan descent, testified against their friend in exchange for possible leniency in sentencing. They said Medunjanin had suggested an attack during Ramadan, on September 11, 2009.
They said the trio, all devout Muslims, traveled to Pakistan in 2008, intending to fight U.S. forces in Afghanistan, but ended up at an al-Qaida training camp, where they were urged to carry out a suicide bombing in the U.S.
The trial provided glimpses of the workings of al-Qaida, when two other convicted terrorists gave testimony.
Outside the courthouse, New Yorkers seemed unconcerned about the trial. "I'm not updated with the news, honestly," said one man.
"I don't have a fear and I don't have an opinion about that," said a woman outside the courthouse. I just know if they're doing this, there's a reason."
Terrorism experts say the plot was narrowly averted when authorities became suspicious of Zazi's activities.
William Bratton, the former head of police for New York and Los Angeles, said, "Of the 14 incidents that have been thwarted here in New York since 9/11 [September 11, 2001], [this was] probably the most significant because it really was very similar to what was carried out in London, the idea of taking backpacks or taking suicide vests onto subway trains in New York City. And it came very close to success."
Karen Greenberg, director of the Center on National Security at Fordham University Law School, says the case shows that terrorism trials are best conducted in public view, in civilian courts.
"I think the most important thing about this case was that it was tried, that it was tried without a lot of criticism from any of the participants. Everybody agreed on the rules, on the procedures, on the safety concerns, on the evidentiary thresholds. And it was a case in which both the prosecution and the defense felt they were using their skills to try a case that fit within the federal courts," she said.
Medunjanin, a former high school football player and college graduate, did not testify at his trial. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
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