2006 Transatlantic Aircraft Plot - Trial

Trial

Following the August 2006 arrests, The New York Times (upon the advice of its legal counsel) blocked IP addresses in Britain from accessing a story titled "Details Emerge in British Terror Case." If a user in Britain tried to access the article, he or she was met with a disclaimer: "On advice of legal counsel, this article is unavailable to readers of nytimes.com in Britain. This arises from the requirement in British law that prohibits publication of prejudicial information about the defendants prior to trial." Using software technology designed for targeted advertising, The New York Times was able to comply with laws stricter than those in the United States.

Eventually, only eight men (Ahmed Abdullah Ali, Assad Sarwar, Tanvir Hussain, Ibrahim Savant, Arafat Khan, Waheed Zaman, Umar Islam, Mohammed Gulzar) were charged in connection with the plot. The trial began in April 2008, and the prosecution began with the exhibition of suicide videos and the allegation that the suspects had bought chemicals.

In their defence, the seven men, who had recorded videos denouncing Western foreign policy, said they had only planned to cause a political spectacle and not to kill anyone. Ahmed Ali told the court that he intended to make the political statement by letting off a small device at Heathrow and scaring people, and that the plot did not involve attacking planes. All the accused, except for Mohammad Gulzar, admitted plotting to cause a public nuisance. Ali, Sarwar and Hussein also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cause explosions.

On 8 November 2008 after more than 50 hours of deliberations, the jury did not find any of the defendants guilty of conspiring to target aircraft. The jury found Ali, Sarwar and Hussein guilty of conspiracy to murder charges but was unable to reach verdicts on charges relating to the alleged plot to blow up aircraft in respect of them.