|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 |
 |
    |
|
|
|||
 |
|
||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
One Suspect Convicted in U.K. Ricin Plot
One of the nine suspects in a plot to spread ricin in London has been convicted, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, Feb. 6, 2003). Kamel Bourgass, 31, of Algeria, was sentenced yesterday to 17 years in prison on a charge of conspiracy to commit a public nuisance by using poisons and explosives. Four other North African men were acquitted Friday at trial, while authorities dropped charges yesterday against the final four suspects. Bourgass was previously sentenced to life in prison for fatally stabbing a police officer as authorities hunted for the suspects in the ricin plot in early 2003. Details of the trials came to light this week after a judge removed bans on media coverage of the case, the Times reported. Prosecutors said during the most recent trial that Bourgass planned to cover building doors and car-door handles with ricin or other poisons, court records state. Police found a bomb design, and recipes and components for toxins such as ricin, cyanide and botulinum at Bourgass’s apartment, according to the Times. “These were no playtime recipes,” said prosecutor Nigel Sweeney. “These are recipes that experts give credence to and experiments show work. They are scientifically viable and potentially deadly.” Early reports from 2003 that authorities had found actual ricin in the apartment later turned out to be false, the Times reported. Defense attorneys said there was minimal indication of an actual plan to use ricin against others. “The ambit of this conspiracy must be a very limited one,” said lawyer Michel Massih. “At its highest there may have been some form of experimentation, but no more. There was not a single target of this conspiracy” (Alan Cowell, New York Times, April 14).
| ||||||||||
Back to top
