9/11 relatives testify on behalf of Moussaoui

Former cult member speaks
Psychologist Paul R. Martin, a former cult member who now runs a treatment center for cult victims in Albany, Ohio, said French Moroccans like Moussaoui generally feel alienated from Western society and his state of mind suffered even more when he left France in 1992 to study international business in London.

“He’s away from his family. He’s lonely. He’s complained about racism. He’s in a new country, and he doesn’t have any support group,” Martin said, describing Moussaoui’s embrace of radical Islam in the mid-1990s.

On cross examination, Martin acknowledged studies exist that find most al-Qaida terrorists come from stable families, middle-class backgrounds and have a college education.

Martin’s testimony was allowed by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, but at the insistence of prosecutors, the judge barred any suggestion from Martin or others that Moussaoui had been brainwashed by al-Qaida.

While not specific to Moussaoui, defense lawyers introduced information from a 2003 CIA report that stated al-Qaida training camps in Afghanistan “used brainwashing techniques to cement loyalty” among recruits.

Moussaoui said as he was led out of the courtroom at a recess, “Moussaoui fly over the cuckoo’s nest,” the latest Hollywood-inspired interjection mocking those who question his sanity.

Much of the mental-health testimony has revolved around Moussaoui’s belief Bush will set him free. Prosecutors and defense lawyers differ on whether that belief is a schizophrenic delusion or a fundamentalist Muslim’s article of faith.

Defense hopes mental illness with sway jury
Moussaoui’s defense team contends his belief about Bush shows he has lost touch with reality. They hope evidence that Moussaoui suffers from mental illness will persuade a jury to spare his life.

Moussaoui is the only person charged in this country in the Sept. 11 attacks. The jury deciding his fate has already declared him eligible for the death penalty by determining that his actions caused at least one death that day.

Even though Moussaoui was in jail in Minnesota at the time of the attacks, the jury ruled that lies he told federal agents a month before the attacks kept authorities from identifying and stopping some of the hijackers.

They must decide whether to sentence him to death or to life in prison.

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