Apparently the prosecution in the al-Haramain/Pete Seda trial has connections: Places to call, strings to pull and people to tweak. Before plunging into the courtroom drama, let’s remind ourselves that Russia took a dim and deadly view of Chechen independence. No love lost on that relationship. And recall that Pete Seda was convicted of supplying material support to Chechen rebels, whom the US has designated as “Terrorists” – this, mainly because the Chechens are for the most part Muslim and besides, who wants to piss off or on Vladimir Putin? So that’s the backdrop. As Judge Hogan leads the procession into the final sentencing phase of this trial, federal prosecutors brought in Colonel Sergey Ignatchenko to testify via video feed in support of their recommendation that Seda’s sentence include ‘terrorism enhancement’ for allegedly providing material support to the mujahideen fighters. Colonel Ignatchenko is an intelligence agent. The enhancement can in crease sentences by more than 20 years. In Seda’s case, however, it would add at most five years to a guideline sentence of 27 to 33 months prosecutors propose without it. That’s because federal law caps sentences for Seda’s tax fraud and conspiracy charges at three years and five years, respectively. After hearing more than six hours of testimony from Ignatchenko and others, U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan announced that he wanted time to prepare a written opinion before pronouncing sentence. Seda’s attorneys have maintained throughout the case that Seda legally conveyed an Egyptian doctor’s donation to Al-Haramain USA to its Saudi parent organization for humanitarian relief in Chechnya.
Walter Bond was arrested last July and accused of being the ALF (Animal Liberation Front) "Lone Wolf" and charged with a number of arson events – otherwise known as ‘Animal Enterprise Terrorism’. Last year Joseph Buddenberg, Mary Khajavi, Nathan Pope and Adriana Stumpo were indicted in Northern California, under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. This ‘Act’ labels the last four of the activists cited above as "terrorists" even though they are charged with protesting, chalking the sidewalk, chanting and leafleting, and using "the internet to find information on bio-medical researchers." All of these are clearly and traditionally protected under the first amendment.
With all this "Terror" in the air it's hard to smell the turkey...Welcome to the House of Fear where the only real danger is your own "Safety"...
- KBOO