A German court on Monday handed the maximum sentence of 15 years in prison to a Moroccan convicted of being an accessory to murder for aiding the Sept. 11 attackers, according to The Assocaited Press. A federal appeals court had convicted Mounir el Motassadeq, a friend of three of the suicide pilots, of the charge in November and sent the case to a state court in Hamburg for sentencing. The Hamburg judges followed the recommendation of federal prosecutors, who said el Motassadeq deserved the maximum penalty because he had known that the hijackers intended to use planes to stage attacks. However, defense lawyers insisted the 32-year-old should be acquitted, and said they may appeal his case to a European court.
