Statements by Mounir El Motassadeq in court

Mounir did not make numerous statements in court. According to some sources, he became disillusioned with the fairness of the proceedings and refrained from making statements or defending himself.  Yet, a few media reports mention statements that he did make in open court. Here are a few.  Readers who have come across more statements, are welcome to send them to the administrator of this site (see Contact on the Menu)

Source: Matthias Gebauer, Spiegel Online, 9 January 2007

Dominic Puopolo, an American businessman whose mother died on 9/11 and who attended the court proceedings, told Motassadeq in court after the judgement was rendered in 2007: „You have a chance to rebuild your life and be back with your family (after serving out your sentence). Others don’t. Your life is not over, but my mom’s is.“ He added, referring to Mounir: „And this man is responsible, even if he was only indirectly involved in the planning [of the attacks of 9/11].“

Motassadeq answered Puopolo with his voice nearly breaking: „Mr. Puopolo, I understand your suffering. The same thing is being done to me, my kinds, my parents, my family. My future is ruined.“  He then addressed the prosecutor, Walter Hemberger.   The prosecutor, Motassadeq said, had twisted the facts and was never really interested in the truth. „For you,“ Motassadeq said raising his voice, „it was a game, and now you have won.“ 

Mounir insisted that he was innocent and was adamant that he had neither been in a position of leadership within the Hamburg group nor did he assist Atta and the other two alleged suicide pilots Marwan Al Shehhi and Ziad Jarrah, all of whom lived and studied in Hamburg. He did nothing, he said, that was out of the ordinary and had not known what his friends were planning to do. He insisted that, appearances notwithstanding, he had never „belonged to any group“. He then broke off. 

Source: Financial Times (UK), February 20, 2003

„I wanted to study (electrical) engineering, in order to use this knowledge back home in Morocco, to do something good for children, women, villages in Morocco,“ Mounir told the court. „Some towns there don’t even have electricity for washing machines.“ Motassadeq denied ever talking of „dancing on the graves“ of Jews or of „our pilot“. He also denied his „loose group of friends“ were ever extremist, or had changed over the years. On the trial’s penultimate day, under tough questioning from the judge, he admitted that „someone or other (among his friends) may have voiced the opinion that force was justified“ – for instance, in solving the Palestinian problem. But he was never „anti-Jewish, nor anti-US either.“  Earlier in the trial he said that, while there was resentment against the US, „the only real idea there was to act on this was to boycott American food.“

Source: Associated Press, USA Today, 5 January 2007

A Moroccan convicted as an accessory to murder in the Sept.11, 2001, attacks made an emotional declaration of innocence as a court opened hearings Friday to set his sentence. „Can anyone in this room swear by God that what is in this verdict is the truth about me?“ he asked. „I swear by God that I did not know the attackers were in America,“ he shouted in accented German. „I swear by God that I did not know what they wanted to do.“

3.  Hamburgere Abendblatt, 9 January 2007

Mounir addressed the State Prosecutor Walter Hemberger with the words: "You will have later have to account to God for your acts!"