French lawyers condemn "Chechen Cells" trial in Paris

A court on Wednesday convicted 25 people "for their roles in preparing an attack in France in support of Islamic fighters in Chechnya".

The five top defendants received prison terms of 8 to 10 years, while the others received lesser sentences. Two were acquitted. All but one defendant had been accused of helping Islamic fighters in Chechnya in what prosecutors said underscored the "globalization of the jihad movement.", reported AP fron Paris.

The AP story lacks any explanation how a terrorist attack in Paris would support Islamist fighters in Chechnya. The BBC's radio report on the convictions this morning states that among the intended targets were "Israeli interests," a fact which appears to have dropped out of the AP story. Also missing from the AP story is any of the handwringing on display among Canadians asking what they did to deserve the attention of jihadists bent on destruction. Mark Steyn's review of Melanie Phillips's Londonistan addresses the Canadians' mystification: "You can't believe your lyin' eyes.", comments a US-based Power Line Website.

Meanwhile the Associated Press French-language Service quotes the words of Isabelle Coutant, a lawyer of one of the accused at the Paris trial, Merouane Benhamed. She said:  "These are the verdicts for the benefit of the U.S., Algeria and Russia. They are sentenced because they are Moslems. France is charged to convict Moslems who impede the great powers.

Another lawyer, Anne-Guillaume Serre, condemned the torture of the accused Moslems by the police in prison and expressed a regret that the trial approved tortures in its verdict. "They (the judges and the police) aranged everything in advance", told Ms Serre, reports the Swiss Tageblatt newspaper.