25-year-old Nigerian and self-described al-Qaida operative Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who faces up to life in prison for trying to blow up an airliner approaching Metro Airport on Christmas day 2009; has requested a new court appointed counsel who is preferably male and muslim.
In a 3 page, handwritten motion, he writes “I find there is more understanding when the person is of the same religion”. This request is based on his complaints that the lawyers appointed to help defend him have lied to him and misled him.
Consequently Judge Nancy Edmunds has set a hearing for 11a.m. January 6 to hear the request ahead of his January 19 sentencing date.
In his letter, Abdulmutallab suggested someone he met through the Federal Defender Office — Dearborn-based Elsayed Mostafa. Mostafa while affirming he’d met Abdulmutallab, said he was unaware of the letter or the personal request but he would meet him again if the Judge asked before he committed himself to the case.
Anthony Chambers who is the current court appointed counsel on Monday said: “He’s not been misled or lied to in any way whatsoever. We’ve done everything we can to help Mr. Abdulmutallab, a misguided young man with a distorted sense of reality who did not take our advice.”
Abdulmutallab has said he should be judged by Islamic law rather than U.S. laws, but Chambers said religion is not at issue. “We did our research and tried to understand what drives him, including his religion,” Chambers said.
Source: detnews.com
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