The two sons of United States terror plot accused Abdul Kadir had the charge of unlawful possession of ammunition dismissed against them after Magistrate Ann Mc Clennon, upheld a no-case submission by defence counsel Kim Kyte-John, at the Christianburg Court yesterday.
Thirty-one-year old Kareem Kadir and his brother, Iqra Kadir, 27, of Lot 95 Riverside Drive, Watooka, Linden, pleaded not guilty to the charge which said, that on June 10, 2007, they had one 7.62 x 39 round at their home, without being the holders of firearm licences.
The Prosecution case disclosed that a search was conducted in the house which accommodated a number of persons including the defendants and Abdul Kadir, their father. A round was found in a wooden cabinet in the top drawer in the bedroom in which Abdul Kadir dwelled.
Kareem Kadir is recorded as telling a witness for the prosecution that he did not know anything about the round, as it was his father’s bedroom. Iqra Kadir, who then entered the room after the round was retrieved ,remained silent after it was shown to him. Five persons in the home were arrested and taken to the McKenzie police Station during the investigation.
Policewoman constable Williams disclosed that she was requested to search the records in relation to five names all of which she could not remember.
In her submissions, Kyte-John said, the Prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant had physical custody or control of the substance, in that they knew or must have reasonably known that he had the substance and that it was prohibited.
According to the lawyer, the Prosecution had failed to establish possession in this matter for the following reasons, in that there was no proof that the defendants knew or could reasonably have known that there was a round in their custody, nothing was found on them, the round was found in a drawer and no connection was established by the prosecution between the defendants and the article.
In addition, Kyte-John further submitted that no fingerprint analysis was conducted. In fact she revealed that a prosecution witness admitted that nothing was found which connected the defendants to the round. Further, she noted that the matter was not properly investigated to determine whether the round was a round from a licensed gun of another family member.
The attorney at law added that there was evidence that the house was occupied by a number of persons who all had access to the room and the prosecution did not lead evidence to show why the other persons were not charged . Following legal submissions, the defence counsel told the court that it should be noted that where a prohibited substance is found on premises even if it belongs to the defendant, something more must be proved.
The Kadir siblings are the sons of Abdul Kadir, a Shi’ite Muslim preacher, a combative ex-mayor and a bitter critic of the government, who is accused of plotting to blow up New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.