Updated 06/25/2012 02:10 PM
Judge Rules Synagogue Terror Plot Case Will Move Forward
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
A judge will allow the criminal case against a Queens man accused of plotting to blow up synagogues around the city to go forward
Lawyers representing Ahmed Ferhani, 26, were asking the judge to dismiss the case, arguing the charges against him are based on insufficient evidence and that he was entrapped.
They also say hate crime charges and a state terrorism law are being misused.
"We think that this is a case that is brought in bad faith, to justify the unconstitutional and illegal campaign of the New York City Police Department and the district attorney to further their own agenda and to criminalize the Muslim community," said Ferhani's attorney, Elizabeth Fink.
Investigators say Ferhani and his alleged accomplice Mohamed Mamdouh, 20, were caught on a wiretap conspiring to bomb synagogues and buy weapons from undercover officers.
Both have pleaded not guilty.
While a grand jury declined to indict them on a top-level terror conspiracy charge the two face other terror and hate crime charges that carry up to 32 years in prison.