Little specific evidence points to a Chicago businessman having knowledge of a terror plot to attack a Danish newspaper, his lawyer said Wednesday as he argued for his client’s release on bail.
Attorney Patrick Blegen said the government’s complaint against Tahawwur Hussain Rana is thin when it comes to demonstrating that Rana knew there was a plan to take revenge on the Jyllands-Posten newspaper for publishing cartoons about the Prophet Muhammad that offended Muslims.
Blegen suggested that Rana could have been “duped” by David Coleman Headley, who is accused of scouting out an attack by visiting the newspaper and claiming to work for Rana’s Chicago-based immigration business.
“It’s only Mr. Headley in his post-arrest statement who says, ‘This is what was in my head,'” Blegen told U.S. Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan.
Federal prosecutors on Wednesday added a charge against Rana that he provided material support to a terrorist plot, raising his possible punishment to life imprisonment if convicted.
Blegen told the judge that Rana’s family and friends could post $500,000 in property to secure his release, but she put off a decision on bail until next week.
Prosecutors said Rana should remain jailed because of the nature of the case.
Rana and Headley conspired to launch an attack “on a building” and specifically targeted an editor and cartoonist at the paper “for the purpose of murdering them,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Collins said.
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jcoen@tribune.com
