German Court Overturns Conviction in 9/11 Case
By DESMOND BUTLER

KARLSRUHE, Germany, March 4 — Germany's highest court today overturned the verdict against the only person convicted of involvement in the Sept. 11 terror attacks, after his lawyer argued that he had not gotten a fair trial because the United States refused to allow key testimony.

The judge ordered a retrial for the man, Mounir el-Motassadeq, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison in February 2003 after being found guilty of 3,066 counts of accessory to murder and of playing a logistical role for the members of the Qaeda cell in Hamburg that produced three of the Sept. 11 pilots.

Mr. Motassadeq's lawyers had asked the court to overturn the verdict, arguing that he was denied a fair trial because the United States had refused to allow testimony by Ramzi bin al-Shibh, who is believed to have been a member of the cell and central to the Sept. 11 plot.

Andreas Schulz, a lawyer representing the families of victims, said, "This decision will be met by my clients with incomprehension."

Presiding Judge Klaus Tolksdorf said in reading today's verdict that the case would be sent back to the Hamburg lower court for a new trial.

Mr. Motassadeq's lawyer, Josef Graessle-Muenscher, said that without the crucial witness, the rest of the evidence was not sufficient for a conviction. He called the court's decision a "life saving" one for Mr. Motassadeq, who was 28 when convicted. "Fifteen years would have been the end of normal existence," Mr. Graessle-Muenscher said.

He also said that it was not acceptable for a country, in this case the United States, to influence an important legal decision by withholding evidence. Today's decision was a "clear critique of Washington, but not clear enough," the lawyer said, adding that he wished there had been stronger condemnation of what he called American intransigence.

Last month, also citing a refusal by the United States to allow testimony from Mr. bin al-Shibh, the Hamburg court acquitted Abdelghani Mzoudi, the second suspect to be tried on charges of involvement in the attacks, of accessory to murder and membership in Al Qaeda.

The court made clear that it had acquitted Mr. Mzoudi not because it was convinced of his innocence, but because the evidence was not enough to convict him. Prosecutors attributed the acquittal to the Bush administration's reluctance to make captured terrorists available for testimony and to allow prosecutors to make use of intelligence information on the terrorist network.