Atlanta terrorism suspect seeks to represent himself

An Atlanta terrorism suspect said Tuesday he would like to address jurors and question FBI agents in his high-stakes trial this summer.

Ehsanul Islam Sadequee also told U.S. District Judge Bill Duffey he wants to go to trial as soon as possible. He is charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.

“I’d like to point out it’s been approximately three years since I was arrested,” Sadequee told the judge.

Sadequee and a fellow defendant, Syed Haris Ahmed, are charged with trying to join Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based militant group. They also are accused of taking videos of “symbolic and infrastructure targets for potential terrorist attacks” during a trip to Washington in 2005.

Both men have pleaded not guilty. They are to be tried separately, with Ahmed going to trial first on June 1.

Duffey asked Sadequee to file a motion as to whether his right to a speedy trial requires the trial date to be moved up. The judge also said he would decide whether Sadequee can, with the help of his two lawyers, represent himself at trial.

Sadequee told Duffey he would like to give opening statements and closing arguments and cross-examine FBI agents who made the case against him. He also told the judge he would like to have final say on what pre-trial motions are filed on his behalf.

Duffey warned Sadequee about the perils of trying to represent himself. “I hope that every right you have is raised” by your lawyers, Duffey said. “If I was you, I would absolutely want that.”

During the 90-minute hearing, Sadequee and his lawyers, Don Samuel and Khurrum Wahid, also complained about the conditions of Sadequee’s confinement at the federal penitentiary.

A psychologist recently found that Sadequee is being traumatized by his inability to have regular “contact” visits with relatives, Samuel said. Sadequee and his family typically visit each other via a video conference, with each sitting in different rooms at the prison and wearing headphones to hear one another.

Duffey said he would do everything he could to help Sadequee, so long as he doesn’t break the rules. The judge ordered prosecutors to find out whether it can be arranged for Sadequee to meet his family in the same room and to have better access to his lawyers and to evidence he needs to review.

Last October, Sadequee was assaulted by another inmate at the prison. Duffey told Sadequee that once he found out about the attack, he called the warden into his chambers for an accounting.

“You have my full and undivided attention,” Duffey told the appreciative defendant.