France to try suspected terrorists in 2003 Casablanca bombings News
France to try suspected terrorists in 2003 Casablanca bombings

[JURIST] Eight suspected members of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM) [CDI profile] were sent for trial Thursday by French investigators for their alleged role in the Casablanca terrorist attacks [BBC report] in May 2003. The suspects have been charged with engaging in a terrorist undertaking and could receive up to ten years in prison. GICM, which has been listed by the United States as a terrorist group with ties to al Qaeda, has also been linked [JURIST report] to the Madrid train bombings in March 2004.

French prosecutors claim that the men raised money and forged documents for the logistics cell of the GICM and that they met with suicide bombers, 13 of whom died in the May attack. The men admit holding Islamic beliefs and attending Islamic training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan, but deny GICM membership. Reuters has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

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On December 28, 1945, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance and encouraged its recitation in schools. The Pledge was supposedly written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus Day. The words “under God” were added by Congress in 1954. The revised version of the Pledge was the subject of litigation before the United States Supreme Court originally brought by Michael Newdow, a parent who unsuccessfully objected to his daughter's school district policy requiring daily recitation of the Pledge. The court ruled that Newdow had no standing.

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