TV show exonerates Osama bin Laden

[arsenal_gooner]

TV show exonerates Osama bin Laden


BERLIN (Hollywood Reporter) - A Dutch TV jury has found Osama bin Laden not guilty of the September 11 attacks.

In the conclusion Wednesday night to the show "Devil's Advocate" on Dutch public broadcaster Nederland 2, the jury of two men and three women, along with the studio audience, ruled that there was no proof bin Laden was the mastermind behind the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001.

The Netherlands, home to "Big Brother" creator Endemol, is known for being on the cutting edge of format-based television. But even for Dutch standards, "Devil's Advocate," from Amsterdam production house AVRO, pushes the envelope.

The show features star defense attorney Gerard Spong standing up for some of the world's worst criminals.

In the latest show, Spong was able to convince the jury that bin Laden's connection to September 11 was a product of "Western propaganda." The jury also ruled there was insufficient evidence to prove bin Laden was the real head of terrorist network al-Qaida. The jury did rule, however, that bin Laden is a "terrorist who has misused Islam."

The show is certain to provide further ammunition in the already heated Dutch debate over immigration and the country's large Muslim minority. The Netherlands saw a sharp rise in anti-immigration and anti-Islamic sentiment after the 2004 murder of Dutch director Theo Van Gogh by a Muslim extremist.

Spong has been at the center of the debate, supporting legal action against anti-immigrant politician Geert Wilders.

TV show exonerates Osama bin Laden | Reuters

 

[jeypore]

that bin Laden is a "terrorist who has misused Islam."

Since the jury did prove that he is a terrorist, which organization does he belong too?

Put this in the trash like the other conspiracy theories.

 

[Captain03]

it makes sense
and they are right about him misusing islam

 

[Awesome]

I read somewhere that the FBI itself has yet to charge Bin Laden with 9/11. I forgot whether that was to do with lack of evidence or perhaps that the person has to be in front of you to do so.

What about Khalid Sheikh's testimony? Didn't he implicate Bin Laden in anyway?

 

[TruthSeeker]

Bin Laden, Most Wanted For Embassy Bombings?

By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 28, 2006; Page A13

Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is a longtime and prominent member of the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" list, which notes his role as the suspected mastermind of the deadly U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa on Aug. 7, 1998.

But another more infamous date -- Sept. 11, 2001 -- is nowhere to be found on the same FBI notice.

The curious omission underscores the Justice Department's decision, so far, to not seek formal criminal charges against bin Laden for approving al-Qaeda's most notorious and successful terrorist attack. The notice says bin Laden is "a suspect in other terrorist attacks throughout the world" but does not provide details.

The absence has also provided fodder for conspiracy theorists who think the U.S. government or another power was behind the Sept. 11 hijackings. From this point of view, the lack of a Sept. 11 reference suggests that the connection to al-Qaeda is uncertain.

Exhaustive government and independent investigations have concluded otherwise, of course, and bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders have proudly taken responsibility for the hijackings. FBI officials say the wanted poster merely reflects the government's long-standing practice of relying on actual criminal charges in the notices.

"There's no mystery here," said FBI spokesman Rex Tomb. "They could add 9/11 on there, but they have not because they don't need to at this point. . . . There is a logic to it."

David N. Kelley, the former U.S. attorney in New York who oversaw terrorism cases when bin Laden was indicted for the embassy bombings there in 1998, said he is not at all surprised by the lack of a reference to Sept. 11 on the official wanted poster. Kelley said the issue is a matter of legal restrictions and the need to be fair to any defendant.

"It might seem a little strange from the outside, but it makes sense from a legal point of view," said Kelley, now in private practice. "If I were in government, I'd be troubled if I were asked to put up a wanted picture where no formal charges had been filed, no matter who it was."

Bin Laden was placed on the Ten Most Wanted list in June 1999 after being indicted for murder, conspiracy and other charges in connection with the embassy bombings, and a $5 million reward was put on his head at that time. The listing was updated after Sept. 11, 2001, to include a higher reward of $25 million, but no mention of the attacks was added.

Others on the list include Colombian drug cartel leader Diego Leon Montoya Sanchez and fugitive Boston crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger, charged with a role in "numerous murders" in the 1970s and 1980s.

The FBI maintains a separate "Most Wanted Terrorists" list, which includes bin Laden and 25 others who have been indicted in U.S. federal courts in connection with terror plots. But this second bin Laden listing also makes no mention of Sept. 11.

"The indictments currently listed on the posters allow them to be arrested and brought to justice," the FBI says in a note accompanying the terrorist list on its Web site. "Future indictments may be handed down as various investigations proceed in connection to other terrorist incidents, for example, the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001."

Staff writer Sari Horwitz contributed to this report.

Bin Laden Still Not Charged For 9/11

 

[Awesome]

"There's no mystery here," said FBI spokesman Rex Tomb. "They could add 9/11 on there, but they have not because they don't need to at this point. . . . There is a logic to it."

Aw, poor guys are so overburdened with work. Why ask them to include one extra line... I don't get, why they haven't yet charged him, I thought its to do with him not being present in front of them. You know how a court's notice has to be "served".

But from your 2006 article it seems like they just don't have the evidence.

 

[Captain03]

he probably didnt even do it
i mean no one has evidence

 

[Zob]

Since the jury did prove that he is a terrorist, which organization does he belong too?

Put this in the trash like the other conspiracy theories.

GREAT i guess u should be in the jury u seem to have evidence to prove he did it when i honestly don't think he is SMART enough to plan such a big event!!!! but ohh well i bet he must be loving all the credit...last week after the shooting in the immigration center BAITULLAH masood said hey boys i did it....and everyone was shocked and guess what the guy turned out to be a vietnamiese...oops....