July 4, Washing,on, DC, US:
The extradition request from India is being fought by Tahawwur Rana, a convicted terrorist from Chicago, who is demanding immediate release from prison. Records from the US Court of Appeals show that Bram Alden, who is both an assistant US attorney and chief of criminal appeals, stated that the lower US courts that have already approved of extraditing Rana to India are completely "right" and that Rana can be extradited under the terms of the US-India extradition treaty.
"The lower courts in this case were correct. According to Alden's opening statement, "India has shown probable cause to prosecute Rana for his role in terrorist attacks that resulted in 166 deaths and 239 injuries," and the treaty plainly states that India can extradite Rana to face charges related to those attacks.
The 25/11 terror attacks in Mumbai occurred less than a year prior to Rana's arrest in Chicago by the FBI. Fifteen years ago, while running a travel business out of Chicago, the alleged terrorist and his friend David Coleman Headley studied potential attack sites and landing zones in Mumbai.
Investigators have concluded that the Pakistani terrorists responsible for the attack relied on a plan that Rana helped create. Headley and Rana are both accused of providing assistance to the terrorist plot. While Rana battled it and ultimately lost, Headley cooperated with the investigators.
India sought Rana's extradition just as he was to be released from a US prison after serving a 14-year term. Documentary evidence suggests that Rana gave financial support to the Pakistani terrorist group responsible for the attack, as Alden emphasized in his argument.
"Rana said that he was informed about what was going on by one of their co-conspirators in Pakistan and his praise for what was carried out in a gruesome terrorist attack that killed 166 people injured 239 more and cost India USD 1.5 million," the judges were told.
The US attorney also informed the court that Pakistani terrorists besieged Mumbai for several days in what is referred to as the "Mumbai Massacre" or India's 9/11. Terrorists in Mumbai struck multiple Indian establishments, including restaurants, bars, and the Chabad House. That number was 911 in India. It was a multi-day assault that was just catastrophic. According to Alden, 166 people died as a result, including 6 Americans. India has every right to pursue prosecution in this case because of the extradition treaty.
According to court documents, Rana's lawyer argued last month against extraditeing his client to India to face charges related to the Mumbai Massacre. According to Rana's legal team, the US Constitution forbids a person from facing trial twice for the same offense, and there is a high probability that Rana will die while in foreign prison.
The attorneys representing Rana are arguing as persuasively as possible against extraditing their client. Still incarcerated at a Los Angeles federal jail, Rana is not free to go.
