JURIST - Paper Chase: UK court sentences five for aiding plotters in failed 2005 London bombings

[JURIST] A UK jury Monday sentenced five men to prison terms ranging from seven to 17 years for aiding the perpetrators of the failed July 21, 2005 bomb attacks on London's transit system [JURIST news archive] evade arrest. Ismail Abdurahman, Muhedin Ali, Siraj Ali, Wahbi Mohammed, and Abdul Sherif were collectively convicted of 22 charges of assisting an offender and failing to disclose information about terrorism. The Kingston Crown Court also convicted Siraj Ali and Mohammed on additional charges of having advance knowledge of the terror plot and failing to warn authorities. Prosecutors presented evidence that the five men, two of whom are brothers of convicted attack plotters, had provided the plotters with food, clothing, safe houses, and passports to help them avoid detection by the police. The suspects were later apprehended. The attempted attacks came two weeks after successful suicide bombings [BBC timeline; JURIST news archive] killed 52 people on three underground trains and a bus in London.

In 2006, plotters Hussein Osman, Muktar Said Ibrahim, Yassin Omar, and Ramzi Mohamed were all found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder [JURIST reports] and sentenced to life imprisonment for their role in the failed terror bombings. The jury in the same case failed to reach a verdict [JURIST report] against Manfo Kwaku Asiedu [BBC profile], but he was later sentenced [JURIST report] to 33 years' imprisonment for his role. BBC News has more.

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