A man sentenced to life without parole for conspiring to assassinate President George W. Bush and providing support to al-Qaeda has mounted what is believed to be the first “Khashoggi defense” in federal court.
Ahmed Abu Ali’s attorneys filed a petition saying their client’s conviction should be vacated, saying that just like Jamal Khashoggi, The Washington Post journalist killed last year, he’s a victim of the Saudi government.
In a 19-page court filing submitted on the one-year anniversary of Khashoggi’s killing, they petitioned a federal court in Virginia to reconsider Ali’s sentence, saying their client was tortured and manipulated by the Saudi government’s secret service police, which has been accused of brutally murdering Khashoggi.
They say the Saudi government’s cover-up of the Khashoggi killing suggests it was too reckless for U.S. prosecutors to rely on when they went after Ali in 2005, eventually securing a conviction and a sentence of life in prison without parole.
“The Saudi government will go to any lengths to cover up wrongdoing,” the court papers read.
Ali argued the Saudi officials initially denied any involvement with Khashoggi’s disappearance but later had to acknowledge he was murdered in their embassy in Turkey after international pressure, especially from Turkish investigators.
Ali’s attorneys say the same officials also tortured their client, forcing him to confess to involvement with al-Qaeda. They say he was whipped and not fed.
They argue that is grounds to give their client a do-over, arguing the Khashoggi murder reveals the Saudi government committed fraud on the court and tainted the prosecution of their client more than a decade ago.
“The fraud now revealed shows that Saudi actors — with the knowledge and unfortunate assent of U.S. officials — subverted the administration of justice,” the court filing said.
Ali was sentenced to life without parole in 2006 after a jury found him guilty of nine counts related to conspiring with al-Qaeda terrorists.
He was raised in Falls Church, Virginia, but moved to Medina, Saudi Arabia, in 2000 to study Islamic theology as a college student.
He was arrested there while taking final exams, with authorities saying he was involved with an al-Qaeda cell.
He was held without formal charges for about two years in Saudi custody before eventually being indicted in the U.S. after Saudi officials recorded his confession.
Scott Sundby, a law professor at the University of Miami, said the petition was a “long shot” but he acknowledged the Khashoggi case creates some “headaches” for U.S. officials, who have long denied treating interrogation subjects poorly.
“It is a creative and smart motion that has some very steep legal hills to climb, but may crack open a door or two if they can get a judge to grant a hearing,” Mr. Sundby said.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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