US court denies Tahawwur Rana's motion for new trial, sentencing on December 4

CHICAGO: A US court has denied Pakistan born Canadian Tahawwur Rana's motions for new trial and set December 4 as his sentencing date.

Judge Harry Leinenweber at the US District Court for the northern district of Illinois, eastern division, in a ruling denied Rana's motions for a new trial and for a judgment of acquittal.

In its two different orders on June 7 and 8, Leinenweber also scheduled his sentencing for December 4. However, no sentencing has been scheduled for his co-defendant David Headley.

Last year, Rana was convicted of knowingly conspiring to provide material support to a terrorist conspiracy to maim and murder people in Denmark, and of providing material support to the terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT).

However, Rana was acquitted of conspiring to provide material support to the conspiracies to bomb public places in the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, where 168 people were killed.

Following this, Rana moved a motion for new trial and judgment for acquittal, which has now been denied by the Chicago court, this paving the way for his sentencing.

Rana seeking a new trial, alleged that the Court erroneously denied his pretrial request to sever the Denmark allegations from the Mumbai allegations.

However the judge in his ruling did not agree with his argument.

"A rational jury could have found that he supported Lashkar by assisting Headley in the Denmark plot during the time that Lashkar was behind it," the order said.

"There seems to be little dispute that Rana knew that Lashkar was a designated terrorist organisation and/or engaged in terrorism.