Terrorism suspect faces trial on U.S. soil
PHILADELPHIA — The Trump administration has brought an al-Qaida suspect to the United States to face trial in federal court, backing off its hard-line position that terrorism suspects should be sent to the naval prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, rather than to civilian courtrooms.
The suspect, Ali Charaf Damache, was transferred from Spain and appeared Friday in federal court in Philadelphia, making him the first foreigner brought to the United States to face terrorism charges under President Donald Trump. Authorities believe Damache was an al-Qaida recruiter.
He was charged with helping plot to murder a Swedish cartoonist who depicted the Prophet Muhammad in cartoons.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has repeatedly said that terrorism suspects should be held and prosecuted at Guantánamo Bay.
Sessions said terrorists did not deserve the same legal rights as common criminals and such trials were too dangerous to hold on U.S. soil. With Damache’s transfer, Sessions has adopted a strategy that he vehemently opposed when it was carried out under President Barack Obama.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to questions about whether Sessions had changed his views on civilian trials.
Damache’s transfer represents a collision of the Trump administration’s tough rhetoric and the reality of fighting terWASHINGTON rorism in 2017.
Though Trump has promised to fill Guantánamo Bay with “bad dudes,” nations across the world have come to regard the penitentiary there as a symbol of American abuse and mistreatment.
Damache, 52, a dual Algerian and Irish citizen, was arrested in Ireland in 2010. But he was released after an Irish judge rejected a request from the United States to extradite him. He was arrested again in 2015 in Spain.
Under Obama, the Justice Department began seeking his extradition, and that effort continued under Trump.
Damache was wanted in connection with a failed attempt to kill a Swedish cartoonist who had depicted the Prophet Muhammad with a dog’s body.
Wearing a black buttondown shirt and jeans, Damache appeared before a federal judge and waived his right for a swift arraignment. He told a judge he wanted to speak with the Irish embassy.
“I need my legal representative that has been recommended by the Irish ambassador,” Damache said. A court-appointed lawyer, Joseph Mancano, had no comment on the Trump administration’s decision.
Damache was charged with conspiracy to support terrorists and attempted identity theft to facilitate an act of international terrorism. He is due back in court on Aug. 28.