VZCZCXRO8221
RR RUEHAG RUEHLZ
DE RUEHDF #0030/01 2781605
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 051605Z OCT 07
FM AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0093
INFO RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHDF/AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF 0107

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSSELDORF 000030 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED -- NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER KJUS KLIG KISL KCRM KOMC IR GM
SUBJECT: DUESSELDORF COURT CARVES OUT NICHE IN TERRORISM CASE 
 
REF: REFS: A) 05 STATE 222496  B) 06 STATE 000015  C) BERLIN 1681  D) BERLIN 1767 
 
DUSSELDORF 00000030  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: The Duesseldorf Higher Regional Court has 
emerged as one of Germany's major legal institutions for trying 
high profile terrorism and other sensitive cases (e.g. mafia, 
espionage).  Following the "Caliph of Cologne" and al-Tawhid 
trials in recent years and an Al-Qaeda insurance fraud case 
nearing completion, the court will begin hearing the Cologne 
"train bomber" (from July 31, 2006) case on December 18.  Court 
officials speculate that they will also try those arrested in 
the September 4 plot by homegrown terrorists against U.S. 
military installations and other targets in Germany (Refs C and 
D).  NRW authorities have gone to great lengths to establish 
Duesseldorf as a venue to try very sensitive cases, opening a 
state-of-the-art high security court building specially designed 
for terrorist trials in 2004 and appointing Ottmar Breidling, 
one of Germany's most experienced judges on terrorism, to 
preside over key trials.  This court is likely to play a 
prominent role in sensitive cases in the future.  End Summary. 
 
 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The Duesseldorf Higher Regional Court has become 
particularly interesting among German courts for its role in 
trying highly sensitive cases.  In the late 1990s, state leaders 
with vision invested considerable resources into ensuring that 
authorities are in a position to handle the most prominent 
cases.  Court officials consider their facility the most modern 
and sophisticated in Germany, or at least among the top.  We 
recently took a tour of the facility with Court President 
Anna-Jose Paulsen and spoke with several of her leading 
colleagues. 
 
 
 
From Rags to Riches: Courthouse a State-of-the-Art Facility 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Paulsen explained that prior to 2004, terrorist trials 
in Duesseldorf were held in a bunker-like courtroom located in 
former Police barracks.  Today, they are tried in a special high 
security courthouse, a gleaming state-of-the-art facility 
complete with specialized, advanced computer and communications 
equipment, drop-down projectors, multiple booths for 
simultaneous language translation, extensive digitized files to 
enable judges to crosscheck information presented at trials 
quickly, and a helipad.  The total cost for this facility was 
35 million, half of which was funded by the state of NRW and 
the other half by the Federal government -- a clear sign that 
this unique facility would not be used only for cases 
originating in NRW, but also from other parts of the country, 
she stated. 
 
 
 
Indictment to Verdict: The Path of an Accused Terrorist in 
Germany 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
------- 
 
 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Unlike routine criminal cases in Germany that are 
investigated, tried and concluded by prosecutors from the state 
where the crime was committed, the Chief Federal Prosecutor in 
Karlsruhe plays a special role in terrorism cases.  After the 
conclusion of a terrorism investigation, the Federal Prosecutor 
decides before which Higher Regional Court a terrorism suspect 
is to be indicted and tried.  For the case to be handled in a 
given Regional Court, the defendant must have some tie to the 
state where the court is located.  As defendants often are 
residents of one state, plan the crime with others in a second, 
commit it in a third, and are apprehended in a fourth state, the 
Federal Prosecutor can bring charges before a Higher Regional 
Court in any of the states, provided it has court with a 
specialized panel of judges able to deal with so-called "crimes 
against the security of the state" (which includes terrorist 
crimes).  More often than not, Paulsen said, the Federal 
Prosecutor bases the decision of where to indict on practical 
considerations, such as caseload and the experience of the court 
as well as facilities for conducting high security trials.  The 
link between the defendant and the state where the trial takes 
place can be very broad.  For instance, in the ongoing Al-Qaeda 
trial before the Duesseldorf Higher Regional Court, none of the 
defendants were residents of NRW at the time of the crime 
(large-scale insurance fraud to generate money for Al-Qaeda 
 
DUSSELDORF 00000030  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
activities), nor were they arrested in the state.  It sufficed 
that one of the defendants had studied in NRW for a semester 
(when the crime may have already been in the planning stages) to 
bring this case to Duesseldorf. 
 
 
 
Duesseldorf Judge: Major Authority in Terrorism Cases 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Of the 130 judges in the NRW Higher Regional Court, 
five specialize in terrorism cases, led by Ottmar Breidling, who 
for 15 years has presided over the division dealing with crimes 
against the security of the state.  He began his career with two 
trials against members of the Kurdish terrorist organization 
PKK, which made national and international headlines in the 
1990s because they involved close collaborators of PKK leader 
Vcalan.  Breidling also tried the Metin Kaplan case (aka "Caliph 
of Cologne"), who was convicted in November 2000, and two trials 
against members of the Al-Tawhid terrorist group (led by Abu 
Musab Al-Zarqawi), which took place in 2002/03 and 2004/05, 
respectively.  In the current Al-Qaeda trial that opened in May 
2006, Breidling is expected to pronounce the verdict shortly (in 
October), before he opens the trial against the "suitcase 
bomber" on December 18. 
 
 
 
¶6.  (SBU) In a recent meeting, Breidling told us he often faces 
criticism because his cases take a long time to conclude, but 
observed with pride that, "to date, not a single one of my 
court's terrorist-related decisions has been overturned by the 
Federal Court of Justice -- unlike some that are tried by my 
colleagues in other courts."  His scrupulous attention to legal 
procedure and detail and successful track record has made a name 
for him in legal and anti-terrorism circles.  Senior officials 
in several NRW law enforcement agencies have told the CG they 
consider him one of Germany's top judges for terrorism-related 
cases. 
 
 
 
Comment 
 
------- 
 
 
 
¶7.  (SBU) With its high tech, secure facilities and Breidling's 
expertise and reputation, the Duesseldorf Higher Regional Court 
has carved out an important niche in the terrorism field and is 
likely to continue to play an important role in high-profile 
cases in Germany in the future.  Based on its track record, a 
senior Court official may be correct in his prediction that the 
three suspects apprehended on September 4 for planning an attack 
on US military facilities and other sites in Germany will be 
tried in Duesseldorf and that Breidling will again oversee this 
trial. 
 
 
 
¶8.  (SBU) With a verdict in the ongoing Al-Qaeda trial expected 
shortly, attention will soon turn to the "suitcase bomber" 
trial.  Some of our court sources are optimistic that a verdict 
in that case can be reached early in 2008, but Breidling's 
reputation and modus operandi suggest that he will not proceed 
until he has an airtight case.  End Comment. 
 
 
 
¶9.  (SBU) This message was coordinated with Embassy Berlin. 
BOYSE