Over twenty years ago, Shahawar Matin Siraj began to experience a growing sense of trepidation concerning a proposal to launch a terrorist attack on a Manhattan subway station. Siraj, then 21 years of age, was drawn into this plan by Osama Eldawoody, a seasoned informant for the New York City Police Department, who had been engaged after the devastating 9/11 attacks. Eldawoody, considerably older than Siraj, developed a patriarchal relationship with him. Eldawoody exposed Siraj to disturbing images of Muslims enduring torture and insisted that while suicide attacks were unacceptable, ‘eliminating the executioners’ was permissible.
In due course, Siraj brought Eldawoody into contact with his associate, James Elshafay, who was a 19-year-old at that time. Elshafay began suggesting prospective sites for attacks, including bridges and police stations. Siraj proposed a different location – the Herald Square subway station. Yet, as the plans started enfolding into reality and Eldawoody claimed that the ‘Brotherhood’ was backing their plan, Siraj felt a sense of dread and tried to extricate himself from the scheme, insisting he did not consent to plant bombs at the subway station.
He stated his reservations over eighteen times, noting, ‘I have to ask my mother’s permission’, implying that his comfort zone would only extend to the role of a watchman. However, a week later, Siraj and Elshafay were apprehended. Elshafay entered a guilty plea and faced a sentence of five years’ imprisonment followed by a three-year supervised release. Siraj, on the contrary, chose to challenge the charges but was eventually convicted after a trial in 2007 and sentenced to a thirty-year term in prison following three years of pretrial custody.
Now, having successfully served over three-quarters of his sentence, Siraj and his attorneys, who are part of a legal nonprofit and clinic at the City University of New York, are advocating for his compassionate release. The opening arguments for his appeal began on a recent Wednesday at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in Manhattan. The team is appealing against the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, which denied Siraj’s request for compassionate release.
His lawyers argued that Siraj deserves compassionate release for multifaceted reasons, predominantly pointing to his vulnerability and youth when the incident occurred. They highlighted a report by a forensic psychologist (appointed by the defense to assess Siraj) which declared that Siraj had underdeveloped analytical and critical thinking skills. ‘He is easily swayed and susceptible to the influence and expectations of others due to his intellectual limitations,’ the expert remarked.
In addition to these insights, even Siraj’s family pointed to his childlike behavior prior to his arrest. His sibling recollected how Siraj frequently watched cartoons and enjoyed playing video games, especially Pokémon. The defense also underscored Siraj’s active efforts towards self-reform during his prison term, including the instance when he endangered his own safety to shield a federal corrections official from an inmate’s act of aggression.
Their argument also highlighted the stark contrast in sentencing between him and his co-defendant, the particularly harsh prison conditions he faced, including four years at the FCI-Terre Haute’s Communications Management Unit, and the discriminatory police surveillance that led to his capture. But the district court viewed these individual points in isolation, dismissing the request, instead of considering the liminal context and cumulative effect of these factors, contended the defense.
Siraj is among nearly 1,000 individuals indicted in terrorism cases by American authorities since 9/11, with more than 350 of these cases involving covert operations or informants deployed by the FBI. The looming fear of surveillance has considerably affected the social dynamics within Muslim communities, causing them to become more isolated. ‘One could never tell if their conversation partner was an undercover agent or an informant,’ said a representative of a South Asian and Indo-Caribbean advocacy group for low-wage immigrant workers and youths in New York.
An investigative report from 2014 meticulously analyzed 27 federal prosecutions involving 77 suspects and discovered that the FBI might have propelled law-abiding individuals to undertake terrorist actions by either suggesting the plan or egging the target on to act. However, despite revealing documentation about law enforcement’s role in inciting crime, winning a legal case on the defense of entrapment is essentially ‘improbable’ attests a legal director of a nonprofit, representing individuals they believe were unjustly targeted by terrorism accusations as an aspect of the wider ‘war on terror’.
In pushing for Siraj’s compassionate release, his lawyers aren’t attempting to dispute the court’s previous entrapment verdict. They tried to elucidate a letter written by Siraj that they believe was misinterpreted by the district court. The court had concluded that the claims in the letter were not an admission of responsibility, rather an effort to redirect blame for grave misconduct, and rehash the core facts of the case, specifically, the jury’s rejection of Siraj’s entrapment defense.
The appeals court used this interpretation of not addressing responsibility to discredit arguments emphasizing Siraj’s rehabilitation, age, and unique vulnerabilities, viewing this perceived ‘inability to accept responsibility’ as a sign that Siraj, after 17 years in jail, didn’t feel sufficiently remorseful for his actions. ‘I am aware that the consequences resulting from my actions fall squarely on my shoulders,’ Siraj wrote in his letter.
Compassionate release has been granted sporadically in cases displaying similarities. Notably, last July, a U.S. district judge sanctioned the release of three men implicated in a terrorism sting, articulating that ‘the driving force behind the conspiracy was, in fact, the United States itself.’ The judge released three participants of the so-called ‘Newburgh Four’ on realizing they were essentially ‘minor offenders’ and FBI agents were essentially the prime movers of an alleged plot to bomb synagogues in New York and down government aircraft.
Following the trial, Siraj’s counsel claimed that the evidence showcasing his client’s reformation is among the most persuasive he has ever seen in compassionate release cases. ‘This case holds significance not just for Siraj, but also for other convicts serving lengthy terms due to terrorism-related crimes. The scrutiny their redeeming conduct and statements receive while they are incarcerated is unusually high and these are mostly dismissed by courts, probably due to the nature of their crime,’ argued his attorney.
During this time, Siraj, now 42 years old, has spent nearly half his life in jail while his family shared the emotional toll as well. After his arrest in 2004, members of their community, even including some kin, distanced themselves from the family and refrained from visiting their home or even exchanging pleasantries on the street. This distancing tendency is commonplace for families of those charged with terrorism, often as a strategy to avoid being labeled as sympathizers of terrorism, according to the head of an immigrant support group.
Regarding Siraj’s mother, she largely stays within her home now, always fearing to miss a call from her incarcerated son.
Convicted Terrorist Appeals for Compassionate Release appeared first on Real News Now.
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