United States v. Kaziu (E.D.N.Y. Sep. 24, 2009)

* United States v. Kaziu (E.D.N.Y. Sep. 24, 2009)

A busy week in Brooklyn…DOJ has announced the indictment of Betim Kaziu, based on the following allegations (this is from thepress release, not the indictment):

According to the indictment and other documents filed by the government, in early January 2009, Kaziu devised a plan to travel abroad for the purpose of joining a radical foreign fighter group and to take up arms against perceived enemies of Islam. Kaziu allegedly boarded a flight at John F. Kennedy Airport on February 19, 2009, and traveled to Cairo, Egypt, where he took steps to continue on to Pakistan to obtain training and other support for violent activities. Kaziu also attempted to join Al-Shabbab, a radicalized, militant insurgency group, which has supported Al Qaeda and which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States Department of State. In addition, Kaziu made efforts to travel to Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Balkans to fight against U.S. armed forces. To that end, Kaziu attempted on multiple occasions to purchase weapons in Egypt. Ultimately, Kaziu traveled to Kosovo, where he was arrested by Kosovar law enforcement authorities in late August 2009.

It appears Kaziu has been charged with a count under 18 USC 956(a) (conspiracy to commit violent acts overseas) and 18 USC 2339A (conspiracy to provide material support in connection with various predicate offenses, including 18 USC 956(a)).  In that respect, the case is very much like the case against Jose Padilla (Padilla ultimately was prosecuted and convicted on similar charges framed around his pre-9/11 efforts to travel to Afghanistan to receive training that would enable him to join the jihad movement).

By Robert M. Chesney

Robert M. Chesney is Charles I. Francis Professor in Law at UT-Austin School of Law. Chesney is a national security law specialist, with a particular interest in problems associated with terrorism. Professor Chesney recently served in the Justice Department in connection with the Detainee Policy Task Force created by Executive Order 13493. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Law and National Security, a senior editor for the Journal of National Security Law & Policy, an associate member of the Intelligence Science Board, a non-resident senior fellow of the Brookings Institution, a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a member of the American Law Institute. Professor Chesney has published extensively on topics ranging from detention and prosecution in the counterterrorism context to the states secrets privilege. He served previously as chair of the Section on National Security Law of the Association of American Law Schools and as editor of the National Security Law Report (published by the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Law and National Security). His upcoming projects include two books under contract with Oxford University Press, one concerning the evolution of detention law and policy and the other examining the judicial role in national security affairs.

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