A jury convicted Muhanad Al Farekh in a New York court last September of providing support to terrorists and other charges related to a 2009 explosion at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan.
The explosion caused injury, but would have been “catastrophic” had these jihadis fully succeeded. His family “has written to a U.S. court pleading for leniency ahead of his sentencing on March 7.” His grandmother calls him “loving,” “caring,” “a wonderful person” with a “good heart.” In September, Federal Prosecutor Richard Tucker more accurately described al-Farekh during closing arguments: “This guy is for real and he is a bad guy….He is an honest-to-goodness al-Qaeda bad guy.” Even this was an understatement: al-Farekh is a zealous, murderous jihadi, from which the public needs protection. His family, however, will protect him against any infidel victim, no matter what. And he may indeed have been kind to his family: they aren’t infidels.
“Family pleads for leniency for ex-Winnipegger convicted of terrorism charges,” by Katie Nicholson and Vera-Lynn Kubinec, CBC News, February 28, 2018:
The family of a former University of Manitoba student convicted of aiding a terror plot in Afghanistan has written to a U.S. court pleading for leniency ahead of his sentencing on March 7.
A jury convicted Muhanad Al Farekh in a New York court last September of providing support to terrorists and other charges related to a 2009 explosion at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan.
The minimum sentence is seven years, but the U.S. government is asking the court to impose the maximum penalty of life in prison.
“I have known Muhanad for the entirety of his life, he is a wonderful person, loving, caring, kind,” his grandmother wrote to Federal District Court Judge Brian Cogan.
The grandmother, who lives in Winnipeg, wrote that her grandson was an active volunteer in the community, has a “good heart inside” and “continues to have unwavering support from his family.”
Letters from family members in support of Al Farekh were filed in the New York court this week.
Al Farekh, 32, had moved to Winnipeg in 2003 to live with his grandmother and uncle in preparation for his university education.
Convicted on 9 charges
He and two other University of Manitoba students, Ferid Imam and Maiwand Yar, left Winnipeg for Pakistan in March 2007. Court heard evidence that they went to join al-Qaeda.
In the months before their departure, court was told, the three men watched video recordings encouraging violent jihad, listened to jihadist lectures and talked about their support for violent Islamist extremism.
While Imam and Yar seemed to have disappeared, the Texas-born Al Farekh resurfaced. U.S. authorities say he climbed to a high-ranking position in the al-Qaeda operation….
He was convicted on all nine charges — which included providing support to terrorists, conspiracy to bomb a government facility and use of explosives — in connection with an attack on an American military base in Afghanistan.
Bomb would have been ‘catastrophic’
On Jan. 19, 2009, two vehicles loaded with explosives lumbered toward Forward Operating Base Chapman in Afghanistan’s Khost province where, court heard, some 90 Americans were working…..