Adis Medunjanin, 27- year-old Bosnian-born U.S citizen, was found guilty on Tuesday of plotting to bomb the New York City subway system three years ago. He now faces a sentence of life in prison. Two former schoolmates of Medunjanin, Zarein Ahmedzay and chief plotter Najibullah Zazi, pleaded guilty two years ago and testified as prosecution witnesses at Medunjanin’s trial. They testified to having travelled to South Wazirstan, Pakistan with Medunjanin in 2008 where they were trained by members of al Qaeda and were encouraged to plan suicide-bombing missions upon their return home.
Medunjanin’s lawyers claim that his goal was to fight for the Taliban and fulfill a “romantic version of jihad,” but not to cause death and destruction in the city where he and his family had settled. However, Zarein Ahmedzay told a Brooklyn jury that al Qaeda operatives had encouraged them to “do as much damage as possible”. Ahmedzay and Zazi also testified that they had considered targeting the New York Stock Exchange, city movie theaters, Grand Central Terminal, and Time Square, before settling on New York’s subway trains at rush hour as it was “the heart of everything in New York City”.
Medunjanin is due for sentencing on September 7th. For more on his conviction, please see the following articles: