Karim Koubriti, a Moroccan national, was convicted in 2003 of document fraud and conspiracy to aid terrorists after he and three others were accused of establishing a terrorist "sleeper cell" in Detroit. The convictions were later overturned after the US Department of Justice agreed that federal prosecutors were not forthcoming with evidence which would have benefited Koubriti and his co-defendants. Today a federal judge has ruled that Koubriti can sue a county in Detroit for alleged abuse while he was in jail.
Koubriti has alleged that he was unnecessarily strip searched, denied exercise, and isolated for 23 hours a day during his three years in the Wayne County, Michigan jail. US District Judge Bernard Friedman rejected the county's bid to dismiss Koubriti's lawsuit last week but no trial date has yet been scheduled. Meanwhile, the US government is working to retry Koubriti on insurance fraud charges. |