Terror suspect gives his own closing argument

An Atlanta terrorism defendant used his closing argument Thursday to recite from the Quran and tell a federal judge that using U.S. law to defend himself would put him in rebellion against God.

Syed Haris Ahmed told U.S. District Judge Bill Duffey that by delivering the message of Islam, he hoped “the promise of protection from evil will apply to me.”

Walter Cumming / AJC

Syed Haris Ahmed making his closing argument Thursday.

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Still, Ahmed, 24, tacitly acknowledged a likely guilty verdict against him was on its way, saying, “I may not get a chance at a public hearing for a long time.”

Only once during his rambling address did Ahmed appear to offer an explanation to the charges against him. “I was misguided,” he told Duffey.

The former Georgia Tech student is charged with conspiring to support terrorism in the United States and overseas. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.

Ahmed, wearing a white skull cap and black vest, waived a jury trial so he could give his closing argument — a statement of his Islamic belief. During his talk, he nervously clicked a ink pen and, on several occasions, politely asked a court reporter if he was speaking too fast.

Ahmed told Duffey, who listened intently, that the Quran is more authoritative than the Bible and that “Muslims actually are, I believe, closer followers of Jesus than Christians.”

Duffey, who is presiding as judge and jury, did not say when he would deliver the verdict. At that close of Ahmed’s argument, Duffey told Ahmed he was being tried in “a remarkable country,” because he was allowed the extraordinary opportunity to make such a statement at his trial.

But the judge, a former U.S. attorney, also sternly reminded Ahmed that he would be deciding the case on U.S. law.

“This is not a case about your faith or about my faith,” Duffey said. This is about your conduct.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert McBurney asked Duffey to find Ahmed guilty.

“This is not about throwing bombs and shooting soldiers,” McBurney said. “It’s about providing support for those activities.”

Earlier Thursday, Ahmed objected to his lawyer’s arguments that the government’s charges be dismissed.

Interrupting his attorney in mid-sentence, Ahmed stood up at the defense table, raised his hand and objected to Duffey.

“He’s giving a closing argument,” Ahmed said of his defense attorney, Jack Martin. “I was to give closing arguments.”

Ahmed, on trial for conspiring to support terrorism here and overseas, agreed to a bench trial so he could give his own closing arguments to Duffey.

Martin was arguing the case be dismissed, as is typical of defense lawyers who ask for a judgment of acquittal on the grounds the prosecution failed to make a case. Such motions, raised after the close of evidence, are rarely granted because the judge is to consider the evidence in a light most favorable to the government.

Duffey denied Martin’s motion.

Martin told Duffey that he had told his client about the motion for acquittal he was going to raise and wondered whether Ahmed misunderstood him.

“I appreciate Mr. Ahmed’s feeling about this,” Martin said. When he returned to the defense table, Ahmed smiled at his attorney and the two men shook hands.

During his arguments, Martin said the government’s evidence that Ahmed conspired to support terrorism in the United States was “very, very thin.”

Ahmed, a 24-year-old former Georgia Tech student, talked about committing terrorist acts here but never followed through with them, Martin said. As for “casing videos” Ahmed and Ehsanul Islam Sadequee of Roswell, who is to be tried later, took of Washington-area landmarks, they were amateurish and never intended to be used for terrorism here, Martin said.

“You’d be better off getting postcards of Washington than using any of those videos,” Martin contended.

The defense attrorney conceded that the government’s evidence on charges that Ahmed supported terrorism abroad was stronger because Ahmed traveled to Pakistan with the intent of joining a jihadist training camp in the summer of 2005. He chose against it, however, and returned to Atlanta and his college classes, Martin said.