On Friday a federal judge has ruled that the case against Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, who allegedly is a top adviser to Osama bin Laden will be allowed to proceed before jury. Judge Lewis Kaplan of Federal District Court in Manhattan had deemed the evidence presented in his court as more than sufficient to try the Kuwait on terrorism charges. Kaplan, said the New York Times, ruled against defense lawyers who requested for an acquittal of bin Laden's son-in-law as the latter claimed the prosecution has not met their burden of proof.
The 48 year-old Abu Ghaith, a cleric, has been identified as the one who had made fiery speeches for terrorist group Al Qaeda in videos reportedly made after the September 11, 2011 attacks. The US government also accused Abu Ghaith of supplying material and others to plot schemes that will harm US nationals.
Abu Ghaith, who was present while Kaplan made the ruling on Friday, was noticeably quiet and was observed rubbing his beard with his hands while prosecutors played the damning video evidence, LA Times said. The prosecutors argued that the videos that showed Abu Ghaith making threats to the Americans are a crucial evidence that points to the defendant's guilt of conspiring terrorist attacks against the US. The prosecutors also had investigator George Corey for the United States attorney's office testified on court Friday that Abu Ghaith made references or similar to Richard Reid's attempt to blow up aircrafts by activating explosives hidden in his shoes.
LA Times said that Abu Ghayth is expected to defend his case beginning Monday. Stanley Cohen, one of Abu Ghaith's lawyers, said also on Friday that he has planned to submit a formal request to the judge to allow him to introduce Khalid Shaikh Mohammed's testimony to aid them with the case. The newspaper said Mohammed declared himself to be the organizer of the harrowing September 11 attacks.
