Ressam sentence reinstated; judge decides government had role in terrorist's lack of cooperation

Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer

A federal judge on Wednesday rejected a request from prosecutors that convicted terrorist Ahmed Ressam be sentenced to life in prison because he has stopped cooperating with investigators.

Part of the blame for Ressam's lack of cooperation, said U.S. District Judge John Coughenour, lies with the government itself.

... Coughenour, a Reagan appointee, also noted that Ressam -- who is held below ground in solitary confinement in an ultra-high-security prison at Florence, Colo. -- has spent years in isolation and will undoubtedly spend more years in "harsh conditions of confinement."

... In the course of hearing the lengthy case, Coughenour received testimony from defense psychiatrist Stuart Grassian, who said that Ressam's "confinement was especially onerous. And inevitably, he suffered a great deal" including having severe anxiety and panic attacks, depression and impaired thinking. All of this made it difficult for Ressam to endure interrogations, he said.

... In the wake of the hearing, both Bartlett and his boss, U.S. Attorney Jeff Sullivan, said they would seek permission from the Department of Justice to appeal the sentence.

Read more: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/390454_ressam04.html

'In the wake of his arrest and trial, Ressam provided U.S. agents with information "unique in its breadth and scope" on the inner workings of al-Qaida, Coughenour said. It "proved to be invaluable in the fight against terrorism."

In making the initial decision to cooperate with federal agents, "he put his own life at risk," Coughenour said. "Downplaying the cooperation of Mr. Ressam," he said, "would diminish the cooperation of future apprehended terrorists."

Coughenour, a Reagan appointee, also noted that Ressam -- who is held below ground in solitary confinement in an ultra-high-security prison at Florence, Colo. -- has spent years in isolation and will undoubtedly spend more years in "harsh conditions of confinement."

The judge suggested that such conditions, combined with repetitive interrogations, played a role in the "early end of his cooperation."

Coughenour took note of that isolation, which he said is exacerbated by the fact that Ressam -- who will be 51 after serving his sentence -- doesn't speak English.

In the course of hearing the lengthy case, Coughenour received testimony from defense psychiatrist Stuart Grassian, who said that Ressam's "confinement was especially onerous. And inevitably, he suffered a great deal" including having severe anxiety and panic attacks, depression and impaired thinking. All of this made it difficult for Ressam to endure interrogations, he said.

In a report to Coughenour, Grassian said: "Thus, Mr. Ressam's cooperation with the government -- a process which had begun with a sense of optimism and a feeling of being treated with dignity -- gradually deteriorated into an oppressive, unbearable ordeal in which Mr. Ressam felt increasingly confused, panicky and increasingly humiliated. This deterioration was, moreover, accelerated by his increasing conviction that he was being abused and manipulated by the government, treated as a puppet or a fool, rather than as someone worthy of respect."'