Ujaama treated unfairly, attorneys complain

Suspected al-Qaida conspirator James Ujaama is being held under "onerous" conditions designed to break his will, and which are damaging his ability to mount a legal defense, his attorneys assert in a lengthy motion filed yesterday in U.S. District Court.

"The strategy is evidently calculated to coerce Mr. Ujaama to ... provide evidence against Abu Hamza," the motion states, referring to the radical Islamic cleric in London who is an unindicted co-conspirator in the Ujaama case and a target of a continuing federal terrorism investigation.

The motion asks that Ujaama be released to house arrest under his grandmother's custody in Seattle and that he wear an electronic monitoring bracelet, among other conditions, while he awaits trial.

Ujaama's mother, Peggi Thompson, and an aunt have offered to put up their homes as a property bond. The two homes have a combined equity of $398,000, the motion states.

Ujaama has been in detention since his July 22 arrest, most recently at the Federal Detention Center in SeaTac. A detention hearing is scheduled this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge John Weinberg.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Hamilton said the government would respond to the defense motion today in court. The U.S. Justice Department has declared Ujaama to be a national-security risk and has asked that he be held under tight restrictions, Robert Mahler, one of Ujaama's court-appointed attorneys, said recently.

Ujaama is charged with conspiracy to support al-Qaida with a plot to set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon three years ago. He has pleaded not guilty.

Ujaama's lawyers contend that Ujaama has been held in solitary confinement.

They say he is locked in a small cell 24 hours a day, except for about five hours a week for exercise, which he must do in shackles.

He is allowed one 15-minute call per month to relatives, and he is allowed visits only from immediate family.

He must give 24-hour notice to contact his attorneys, the motion contends. His attorneys initially were barred from visiting and can do so now if they do not bring computers or electronic recording devices.

"The onerous conditions of confinement profoundly undermine Mr. Ujaama's Sixth Amendment right to counsel," the motion states.

In a similar case, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema yesterday ordered U.S. marshals to give larger quarters to Zacarias Moussaoui, accused of being the so-called 20th hijacker, who is awaiting trial for conspiracy to commit terrorism. The judge called his detention in a small, windowless cell at the Alexandria, Va., city jail inhumane and an impairment to his ability to assist in his defense.

Yesterday's filing in the Ujaama case exceeded 800 pages and painted the 36-year-old Muslim convert as a civic-minded entrepreneur who sought to help young people stay free of drugs and crime. Exhibits included letters to the judge from relatives, friends and community leaders, including Metropolitan King County Councilman Larry Gossett. All contend that Ujaama is neither a flight risk nor a danger to the country.

Gossett said he met Ujaama for lunch at a Central Area restaurant shortly before Ujaama's arrest. He said Ujaama told him he had been living in London but had returned to Seattle to work against increased religious, ethnic and racial profiling by the government after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Ujaama also told Gossett he likely was under investigation by the FBI.

"Despite this possibility, he indicated a strong resolve to stay here and 'struggle for change,' " Gossett wrote. "This is why I genuinely believe James would not be a threat to leave the region or be a harm to his fellow U.S. citizens."

The motion acknowledges Ujaama has a "minor prior criminal history," including a 3-year-old warrant for failing to appear on a misdemeanor theft charge. But Ujaama would never put in jeopardy the homes his family put up for bond, his lawyers say.

Ray Rivera: 206-464-2926 or rayrivera@seattletimes.com.