Court raises possibility that Sept. 11 retrial may be called off

[Judi Lynn]

Germany-Sept 11 Suspect
Court raises possibility that Sept. 11 retrial may be called off

(Hamburg, Germany-AP, Apr. 2, 2004 9:30 AM) _ A German judge on Friday raised the possibility that the retrial of the only Sept. 11 suspect ever convicted may collapse.

At a hearing to rule on Mounir el Motassadeq's request to be freed from jail, Judge Ernst-Rainer Schudt pointed to a March appeals court ruling that the suspect failed to get a fair trial the first time.

Consequently, Schudt said that "in the further course of the proceedings it may have to be considered that ... the question of closing the case will arise," the Hamburg state court said in a statement.

It was the first time the court publicly raised such doubts about the government's case.
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