A federal judge yesterday threw out the case against a member of an alleged Virginia jihad network, ruling that prosecutors had failed to present any evidence that the man was involved in a conspiracy to train for jihadist combat abroad.
U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema said that although Caliph Basha Ibn Abdur-Raheem subscribed to a "radical form of Islam" and played paintball in the Virginia countryside, there was no evidence that he was training for jihad. Prosecutors contend, and several witnesses have testified, that the paintball games played by the network of 11 men simulated warfare.
"He is an ordinary run-of-the-mill paintball player. . . . Paintball by itself is not an illegal enterprise. Many people do participate in paintball,'' said Brinkema, who noted that Abdur-Raheem had attended meetings of alleged co-conspirators but had dozed off at a key one.
Although Brinkema also dismissed various counts against the other three men on trial in Alexandria, she refused to drop the most serious charges, that some of them trained with a foreign terrorist group and that one had conspired to support al Qaeda and the Taliban.
Prosecutors rested their case yesterday, and the defense began presenting witnesses. The three men still on trial -- Masoud Ahmad Khan, Seifullah Chapman and Hammad Abdur-Raheem -- could be sentenced to dozens of years in prison if convicted. Six other members of the alleged network have pleaded guilty.
As he walked out of court and hugged crying relatives, Caliph Basha Ibn Abdur-Raheem criticized the government for bringing the charges against the group of Muslim men.
"I knew I didn't do anything wrong. These allegations are all false,'' said Abdur-Raheem, who added that Muslims have been targeted by the Justice Department since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
His attorney, Christopher Amolsch, said, "It took enormous courage for Caliph to go to trial in this area, facing these charges, being a Muslim when words like Taliban and al Qaeda are floating through the case.''
Defense attorneys waived the right to a jury trial so Brinkema could decide the case. They argued that a Northern Virginia jury could not fairly evaluate Muslims accused of terrorism-related crimes.
Prosecutors declined to comment on yesterday's court action.
The Justice Department has been portraying the case as a key component of its post-Sept. 11 crackdown on terrorism, with officials emphasizing that prevention is now a large part of their mission.
The defendants on trial are among 11 men -- all but one from the Washington suburbs -- who were indicted in June on weapons counts and charges of training with Lashkar-i-Taiba, a group trying to drive India from the disputed region of Kashmir. The U.S. government has labeled the group a terrorist organization.
Seven of the men were charged again in September in an updated indictment that accused two of them of conspiring to provide material support to al Qaeda and to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
Five of the six men who subsequently pleaded guilty have testified since the trial began Feb. 9, with several of them describing the paintball games as secretive sessions led by an "emir" during which the men learned combat tactics and talked of jihad overseas.
Prosecutors also presented evidence that the men had numerous weapons in their homes and exchanged e-mails with links to videos of Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda.
Witnesses said two of the men, Khan and Chapman, trained for combat at Lashkar camps in Pakistan, but defense lawyers portrayed the men as attending primarily for fitness and for the beautiful scenery. Defense lawyers also said the men felt obligated to defend themselves against what they perceived as anti-Muslim bias.
Caliph Basha Ibn Abdur-Raheem faced the least serious charges, conspiracy and firearms violations. Chapman and Hammad Abdur-Raheem were charged with firearms violations and conspiracy counts related to Lashkar-i-Taiba. Khan faced the most serious charges: conspiracies to support al Qaeda and the Taliban and to levy war against the United States, along with weapons counts.
Yesterday, Brinkema dismissed charges that Hammad Abdur-Raheem had aided other conspirators who trained in Pakistan even though he did not train there himself. She called the links prosecutors tried to draw "too disconnected.''
But the remaining counts against Abdur-Raheem would still leave him facing at least 60 years in prison under federal law. His exact sentence would be determined by federal guidelines.
Although several counts against Chapman and one count against Khan were dismissed, Chapman is still facing at least 60 years in prison under federal law, and Khan could face more than 100 years.
Brinkema said there was evidence that the men had participated in the conspiracy. "If nothing else, they were supplying moral support and encouragement and giving groups like Lashkar poster children,'' she said.
