Court refuses to hear 9/11 accessory's appeal

A top German federal court today said it had refused to take up the appeal of a Moroccan man convicted of helping three of the September 11 suicide pilots, leaving the 32-year-old with no further legal action possible in Germany.

Mounir el Motassadeq was convicted in November of being an accessory to the murder of the 246 passengers and crew on the four planes used in the 2001 terrorist attacks.

He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, the maximum penalty possible under German law.

The Federal Court of Justice said today that in a ruling May 2 it found el Motassadeq’s appeal to be “unfounded.”

“Therefore the verdict against the defendant el Motassadeq is legally binding,” the court said in a short statement.