U.S. judge rules bomber must be given halal meals

A federal judge sided with one of the 1993 World Trade Center bombers in a bench judgment requiring the Federal Bureau of Prisons to hire a food vendor to provide meals that meet his specific Muslim diet requirements.

R. Brooke Jackson issued a written court ruling Thursday enjoining the United States Bureau of Prisons from discontinuing Ahmad Ajaj’s certified halal diet unless no reasonable alternative exists. Jackson also awarded Ajaj’s attorneys compensation for their costs in bringing the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Denver and fighting the case for three years.

“As the prevailing party, (Ajaj) is also awarded costs to be taxed by the Clerk of Court,” Jackson ruled.

The ruling means BOP must go to extraordinary means to satisfy complaints Ajaj brought in his federal civil lawsuit. BOP transferred him from a Colorado Supermax prison to a federal prison in Indiana and contracted with a food vendor to satisfy his complaints. Ajaj’s case also could impact how Muslim prisoners are served meals in prisons across the federal system.

In his 15page judgment, Jackson wrote that there have been many changes since the case was filed in 2015, including that Ajaj was transferred from the U.S. Administrative Maximum Penitentiary in Florence to the U.S. Penitentiary Terre Haute in Indiana. Prison officials in Indiana entered into a contract with an Illinois vendor to buy halalcertified meals for Ajaj.

The Illinois vendor provides Ajaj with lunch and dinner, which are reviewed by a prison dietitian to ensure nutritional standards. The prison gives him a breakfast with boiled eggs, fruit, dairy and tea, the ruling says.

Jackson’s ruling suggests that Ajaj’s case could have national ramifications.

“If a national solution is not implemented the policy will continue potentially indefinitely,” Jackson wrote, referring to Ajaj’s special diet. “There are no current plans to transfer Mr. Ajaj again. However, if he is transferred before a national policy is implemented, his meals at the new institution will be reviewed by the BOP’s central office.”

“Most of the 200 to 300 Muslim inmates at FCC Terre Haute are on a kosher diet, but if others want what Mr. Ajaj is now getting they will be accommodated as well,” Jackson’s ruling says.

Terre Haute is soliciting applications for a fulltime imam solely for its prison. The imam must have a degree in theology or a graduatelevel equivalency and pass a security test. In the meantime, Terre Haute hired Imam Bashar Murad as a temporary Muslim leader at the prison.

Although Ajaj doesn’t approve of Murad’s teachings, Jackson said that doesn’t mean he is being denied meaningful access to an imam. Ajaj also had been permitted to join the Terre Haute prison’s “Life Connections Program,” enabling him to participate in communal prayer.

Jackson did not award Ajaj, who is serving a 114year sentence in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, any monetary damages in his decision.

Ajaj is one of several terrorists convicted in the Feb. 26, 1993, World Trade Center bombing in which six people were killed and more than 1,000 people were injured.

Ajaj had attended terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia to learn how to construct a bomb.

The bench trial began Aug. 27 before Jackson. There was no jury involved. Testimony took three days and Jackson has been deliberating since then.