Monzer al-Kassar Goes on Hunger Strike

Monzer al-Kassar, a Syrian businessman, has been indicted by the United States on charges of plotting to supply weapons to Colombian rebels.^[1] It is asserted that the weapons where to be used in attacks on American forces in Columbia.^[2] Al-Kassar has been jailed in Spain since June, when he was arrested on a U.S. warrant and, as of Monday, has gone on a hunger strike in his Spanish jail.^[3]

No one know’s the suspect's reasons for the protest, however the newspaper El Mundo reported that al-Kassar complained in a letter to the prison warden that he is suffering ''psychological pressure'' from agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.^[4]

Al-Kassar, asserted that he would explain this treatment when he goes before Spain's National Court for an extradition hearing, however no date for this hearing has yet been set. ''I am being treated properly, with all my rights as a prisoner in solitary confinement respected……..This strike is not aimed at you,” al-Kassar wrote to prison director Julian Maillo.^[5]

Al-Kassar was arrested at Madrid airport in June and is being held at a high-security prison outside Madrid.^[6] It is asserted that undercover DEA agents arranged a fictitious deal with al-Kassar, convincing him they represented rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia(FARC) and wanted to buy surface-to-air missile systems, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, thousands of machine guns and millions of rounds of ammunition for the group.^[7] Al-Kassar and his cohorts were told the missile systems were intended to take down U.S. helicopters aiding Colombia's battle against drug traffickers.^[8]

Front of the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), Latin America's oldest and largest leftist guerrilla force.^[9] While the United States considers the FARC a terrorist organization, the FARC says it's fighting for the rights of the rural poor against the interests of the wealthy ruling elites.^[10]

The U.S. indictment charges al-Kassar with conspiring to support terrorists, conspiring to kill U.S. soldiers, conspiring to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles, and money laundering.^[11]

Federal criminal defense attorney Douglas McNabb has discussed the terrorism crime of providing support to terrorists extensively in this blog; these posts can be accessed here.

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^[1] Daniel Woolls, Syrian accused of plotting illegal arms deal begins hunger strike in Spain, Associated Press Newswire, September 12, 2007, available at available at LEXIS, News Library, Wire News Services File.
^[2] Id
^[3] Id.
^[4] Id.
^[5] Id.
^[6] Id.
^[7] Id.
^[8] Id.
^[9] Pablo Bachelet, Colombian Guerrilla Awaits a Decision in Drug-Trafficking Trial, McClatchy Newspapers ( via Kansas City Star), February 09, 2007, available at http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/16664893.htm (last visited September 12, 2007).
^[10] Id.
^[11] Woolls, supra note 1.