Abdul Kadir, DeFreitas guilty

Aug 03, 2010 News

– Face life imprisonment

(From the New York Times) A federal jury yesterday found two Guyanese men guilty of conspiring to blow up John F. Kennedy International Airport, concluding a month-long trial that centered on the men’s plan to set off a series of explosions along a fuel pipeline that cuts through the city.
But the plot never advanced beyond the conceptual stage, and the planning sessions, some of which were recorded by a confidential informant, were at times grandiose and absurd. Suggestions of destroying the American economy vied with calls for a “ninja-style attack.”

Convicted terrorism plotters Russell De Freitas and Abdul Kadir

The defendants, Russell M. De Freitas and Abdul Kadir, had been monitored from an early stage in the plot by the informant, who posed as a member of the group, which included a number of other participants. The informant, Steven Francis, had recorded the men during surveillance missions to the airport and on international trips to secure financial and logistical support for the attack.
The recordings were used by federal prosecutors to portray Mr. De Freitas, a United States citizen and a former cargo handler at the airport, as the “homegrown extremist” who was the mastermind and driving force behind the plot.
Mr. Kadir, a prominent Guyanese politician who served in parliament and as mayor of a major city, initially emerged as a secondary figure, one of several co-conspirators portrayed as facilitating the plot by providing advice and contacts. But in testifying in his own defence, he later opened himself to questions about whether he had spied for Iran.
The verdict came after five days of deliberations before Judge Dora L. Irizarry in United States District Court in Brooklyn.
Mr. De Freitas and Mr. Kadir face possible sentences of life in prison after their convictions on five counts of conspiring to commit acts of terrorism. Mr. De Freitas was also convicted of surveillance of an airport; Mr. Kadir was acquitted of that charge. Two other men, Abdel Nur and Donald Nero, have pleaded guilty to participating in the plot. Another man, Trinidadian Kareem Ibrahim, is still awaiting trial.
The case, with its international reach, high-profile target and unusual cast of characters, drew headlines when the men were arrested more than three years ago. The United States attorney in Brooklyn at the time, Roslynn R. Mauslopf, said that the attack had the potential to cause “unfathomable damage, deaths and destruction.”
But as time went on, more was revealed about the plot and the unlikelihood of its success (the fuel pipeline, for example, had safety mechanisms that would have prevented cascading explosions), as well as the level of government involvement (the informant had played a somewhat enabling role in pushing forward the plot).
Once the trial began on June 30, intrigue grew over which of the two defendants actually presented the greater threat. Mr. De Freitas had been the focus of the prosecutors’ opening arguments, but by closing arguments, Mr. Kadir’s name was mentioned nearly as often.
The voluminous recordings played in court left little doubt that Mr. De Freitas had tried to push the plot forward: he videotaped the airport, traveled to Guyana and Trinidad searching for like-minded Muslim militants, and frequently boasted of the damage the attack would cause — promising that it would be “worse than the World Trade Center.” A prosecutor said the tapes showed him “doing everything he can to make his nightmare a reality.”
Mr. De Freitas, a frail, gray-haired man who watched the trial in a listless slouch, was portrayed by his lawyers as what one of them said was “a man with a small mind, a big mouth and an ugly imagination.” They said he lacked the resources or sophistication to pull off the attack without the constant assistance of Mr. Francis, who purchased a camera for their surveillance missions and had to instruct him how to use it.
“Russell De Freitas can’t mastermind his way out of the on-off switch on a video camera,” one of his lawyers said.
In contrast, Mr. Kadir’s profile grew during the trial, particularly after his decision to testify in his own defence. Until that point, Mr. Kadir’s contributions to the plot were vague, like suggesting that the men download a computer program made by Google to view satellite photos of the airport; agreeing to store money for the plot in a bank account for his mosque; and helping to establish the code name for the attack: “the chicken farm.”
But once on the stand, he was confronted with evidence of his ties to Iran, including letters he wrote to the Iranian ambassador to Venezuela and to an Iranian diplomat who has been accused of leading a major terrorist plot in South America.
Mr. Kadir denied spying for the country. In closing arguments, a prosecutor called Mr. Kadir, cautious and careful, “a man of a different mold” who provided “voice and authority to this terrorist plot.”
Francesca Laguardia, director of research for the Center on Law and Security at New York University, who studies terrorism cases and was present for most of the trial, said the Iranian connections suddenly provided legitimacy to a trial that had been hamstrung by the contrast between the allegations and the appearance of Mr. De Freitas, a supposed mastermind who inspired “no fear whatsoever.”
“One of the interesting things we learned is how much doesn’t come out in these court cases. We never would have found out all these connections with Iran, if he hadn’t gotten on the stand. That really changed the case,” Ms. Laguardia said. “Maybe it’s an example of the reason why law enforcement takes cases seriously that the rest of us don’t take seriously, that don’t seem to pose any threats at the time of arrest.”

Kadir’s wife calm after terrorism conviction

Less than an hour after hearing that her husband had been convicted for terrorism against the United States, the wife of former Linden Mayor and parliamentarian, Abdul Kadir, had calmly accepted the verdict.
“I am a Muslim and from God we come, and to God we return,” Isha Kadir said, while speaking to Kaieteur News briefly from the family’s West Watooka home.
“From the time I heard that my husband had connections with Iran I was braced for anything.”
Mrs. Kadir said she received the news about 17:20 hrs, since a power failure at Linden had prevented her from receiving the information earlier.
During an interview shortly after his arrest, Kadir’s close relatives had denied that he was involved in terrorism.
Kadir, a former PNC parliamentarian and former Linden Mayor, and his compatriot Russell De Freitas, were found guilty yesterday of conspiring to blow up the John F Kennedy Airport.
Two other men, Abdel Nur and Donald Nero, have pleaded guilty to participating in the same plot. Another man, Trinidadian Kareem Ibrahim, is still awaiting trial.