- Many hundreds of wrongfully convicted men and women languish
unjustly in US federal and state prisons, victims of judicial unfairness,
get tough on crime policies, a guilty unless proved innocent mentality,
three strikes and you're out, and America's bogus war on terror, entrapping
law-abiding people for political advantage, especially Muslim's, Washington's
target of choice.
-
- Russell Defreitas is one of many, victimized by what
the Innocence Project (IP) calls "McJustice - the crisis of indigent
defense," or in Defreitas' case, FBI entrapment. No wonder IP tries
to free "the staggering numbers of innocent people who remain incarcerated
and to bring substantive reform to the system responsible for their unjust
imprisonment."
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- Prosecutorial misconduct includes:
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- -- targeting the innocent;
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- -- using bogus charges to indict;
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- -- coercing false confessions;
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- -- intentionally lying or misleading jurors;
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- -- withholding or destroying exculpatory evidence;
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- -- using secret evidence withheld from defense; and
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- -- entrapping targets lawlessly with stings and/or criminals
induced to cooperate for better treatment.
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- On June 3, 2007, New York Times writers Cara Buckley
and William Rashbaum headlined, "4 Men Accused of Plot to Blow Up
Kennedy Airport Terminals and Fuel Lines," saying:
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- "Four men," including Russell Defreitas, "a
onetime airport cargo handler and a former member of the Parliament of
Guyana, were charged yesterday...." One was arrested in Brooklyn and
two others were detained in Trinidad, (while) the fourth man was still
at large."
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- On June 2, Defreitas, a naturalized US citizen, was arraigned
in federal court. New York assistant FBI field office director Mark Mershon
said all four men had "fundamentalist Islamic beliefs of a violent
nature," suggesting they were guilty of being Muslims in America
at the wrong time.
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- On August 2, 2010, Times writer AG Sulzberger headlined,
"2 Men Convicted in Kennedy Airport Plot," saying:
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- Ending a monthlong trial, "(a) federal jury found
two Guyanese men (Russell Defreitas and Abdul Kadir) guilty....of conspiring
to attack Kennedy International Airport (by) set(ting) off a series of
explosions along a pipeline that cuts through New York City."
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- Like numerous other cases, there was no plot or crime,
just "conspiracy" to commit one, the charge used when clear evidence
is lacking. In fact, conspiring or attempting to blow up Kennedy Airport
is impossible. Other implausible cases charged plots to attack the Brooklyn
Bridge, Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Times Square, Wall Street,
and Chicago's Sears Tower.
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- Also alleged others against US soldiers at Fort Dix,
NJ, US marines at Quantico, VA, National Guard jets with stinger missiles,
Pakistan's ambassador with a surface-to-air missile, and others just as
preposterous.
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- They include a fake shoe bomber, fake underwear bomber,
an earlier Times Square bomber, fake shampoo bombers, fake Al Qaeda woman
planning fake attacks, fake Oregon bomber, fake armed forces recruiting
station bomber, fake 9/11 bombers, and others to stoke fear and enlist
public support for the fake war on terror.
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- All cases entrapped Muslims. Accusations against them
were spurious, yet they were arrested, charged, convicted and sentenced
to long imprisonments - for their faith at the wrong time, not conspiracy
to commit crimes.
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- Entrapment is commonly used, occurring when law enforcement
officials or agents induce, influence, or provoke crimes that otherwise
wouldn't be committed. However, it doesn't apply in cases of willingness
to act lawlessly, government merely aiding, abetting, or facilitating a
good chance to do so.
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- Entrapment involves:
-
- -- government officials or agents initiating the idea;
then
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- -- persuading individuals to discuss, plan or commit
actions they otherwise never intended.
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- To convict, prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable
doubt no entrapment was used. In fact, it's a common technique to convict
innocent people, targeted for political or other reasons.
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- Sulzberger said the alleged JFK plot "never advanced
beyond the conceptual stage (if that), and the planning sessions, some
of which were recorded by a confidential informant, were alternately grandiose
and absurd....As in (similar) cases, the threat as officials described
it....seemed to exceed the suspects' capacity," let alone their intent.
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- Moreover, convicted drug trafficker Steven Francis was
the informant, recruited in return for leniency, again a commonly used
scheme, freed or given reduced sentences for cooperating to entrap. In
fact, they're sometimes paid handsomely for services rendered.
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- US Attorney Roslynn Mauskopf called Defreitas a "homegrown
terrorist" planning to cause "unfathomable damage, deaths and
destruction." Kadir, a former Guyanese mayor and parliamentary member,
was described as a secondary figure, one of several involved in facilitating
the plot by providing advice and contacts. It was untrue.
-
- In fact, during trial, entrapment became clear, Sulzberger
saying Francis "played a somewhat enabling (financial and logistical
support) role in pushing forward the plot," that wouldn't have existed
in any form without him.
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- On February 17, 2011, New York Times writer Colin Moynihan
headlined, "Life Sentence for Leader of Terror Plot at Kennedy,"
saying:
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- "Ringleader" Defreitas was sentenced to life
imprisonment (as was Kadir) on charges Federal District Court Judge Dora
Irizarry called "extremely serious."
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- His lawyer, Mildred Whalen called him more disagreeable
than dangerous, "a man with a small mind, a big mouth and an ugly
imagination." He and others "were more aspirational than operational.
Until the government got involved, this was talk" without action,
smoke without fire, hyperbole (if that) with no intent.
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- Prosecutor Marshall Miller inverted truth saying Defreitas
led the conspiracy. Francis merely followed, not acting as a paid government
provocateur/informant.
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- A February 17 New York Field Office press release said
Defreitis "originated the idea to attack JFK Airport and its fuel
tanks and pipelines by drawing on his prior experience working at the airport
as a cargo handler. (He) recruited others (in the) plot during multiple
trips to Guyana and Trinidad."
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- "Between trips, (he) engaged in video surveillance
of JFK Airport and transported (it) back to Guyana to show Kadir and their
co-conspirators. Kadir, a trained engineer with (alleged) connections to
militant groups in Iran and Venezuela, provided the conspirators with links
to individuals with terrorist experience, advice on explosive materials,
and a bank account through which to finance the terrorist attack."
-
- In fact, from the start, FBI operatives orchestrated
everything. According to Defreitis' attorney Whelan:
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- He "can't mastermind his way out of an on-off-switch
on a video camera," let alone plan an intricate plot. He's, in fact,
"a guppy the government (tried) to pass off as a shark," an innocent
man with a big mouth. Moreover, Francis not only bought the video camera,
but taught him how to use if, and supplied transportation to entrap. He
created the plot. "I think it's clear these guys couldn't (and didn't)
act on their own...."
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- Kadir's attorney, Kafahni Nkrumah, said he "never
assisted in advancing the (alleged) objectives of the conspiracy."
He was only on the receiving end of phone calls and visits, declined to
travel with his co-defendants, and never came to New York. He added that
practicing Shia Islam is no crime. "We live in a dangerous world,
but convicting an innocent man doesn't make us safer."
-
- On August 4, 2010, Wilkes University and University of
Scranton Professor Paul L. Williams headlined, "Would Be Terrorists
Become Victims of Federal Entrapment," saying:
-
- "The JFK plot (was) a ploy. (It) was conceived not
by a radical Islamic group but rather by the Federal Bureau of Investigation."
They engineered it, according to court records, to capture Adnan el Shukrijumah,
"the Most Wanted Terrorist in the Western Hemisphere."
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- A US citizen, he allegedly was enlisted to lead a homeland
terrorist attack, FBI Director Robert Mueller and other intelligence officials
calling it "the American Hiroshima," whether or not true.
-
- In 2003, information suggested he was in Guyana, protected
by Rarouk Razac, "a family friend and well-heeled financier."
He was seen at the Swiss House Cambio, Razac's money exchange. There he
met Imam Humammed Hassan Abrahemi, director of the International Islamic
College for Advanced Studies (ICAS), allegedly funded by Iran.
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- Abdul Kadir served as ICAS's assistant director. Defreitas
was a Guyanese parliamentary member and Jamaat ul-Muslimeen leader. "This
new association (lead) to a plot to a botched FBI sting" and alleged
attempt to blow up JFK Airport fuel lines.
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- On April 2, 2004, two masked men kidnapped Abrahemi,
his body found two days later. No one was ever caught. "By this time,
the FBI had infiltrated Jamaat ul-Muslimeen," posing as jihadis, working
with Kadir and Dufreitas to find Shukrijumah.
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- Supplying funds and logistical support, they hatched
the JFK scheme, what US Attorney Mauskoff called "one of the most
chilling plots imaginable," able to cause "unthinkable devastation."
In fact, it's technically impossible to achieve. "Jet fuel does not
produce explosive force, and the pipelines and fuel tanks that are buried
in Queens have safety valves to prevent any mishap."
-
- FBI officials, however, apparently thought this type
plot would lure Shukrijumah from hiding. It didn't. He never appeared
at Trinidad or Guyana planning sessions. Instead, Dufreitas, Kadir and
two others were entrapped and arrested. FBI officials admitted Shukrijumah's
capture "would have been the prize."
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- So far, he's still at large. Dufreitas and Kadir, however,
got life sentences, though committed no crime. Like hundreds of others,
they're victims of America's war on terror, targeting innocent men and
women for political advantage.
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- Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at
lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com
and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the
Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays
at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs
are archived for easy listening.
-
- http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.
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