Germany's highest court of appeals has overturned the acquittal of a man tried on charges of accessory to murder in connection with the September 11 U.S. terrorist attacks.
The court Thursday said Mounir el-Motassadeq, a Moroccan friend of the September 11 hijackers, is indeed guilty of the charge and must return to court to receive a new sentence.
He now faces up to 15 years in prison. Last year, Motassadeq received a seven-year term for membership in a terrorist organization, but a court ordered him freed in February pending appeals.
A German court convicted Motassadeq in 2003 of membership in a terrorist organization and of being an accessory to murder. However, an appeals court later threw out that verdict, noting that the U.S. government had withheld information relative to his defense.
A court later acquitted him of the accessory-to-murder charge.
Motassadeq was accused of providing logistical help to the Hamburg-based terrorist cell involved in the September 11 attacks.
Motassadeq will return to a court in Hamburg to face sentencing on the accessory-to-murder charge.