Education About Islam Permitted in Trial Setting

June 11, 2001

Source: The New York Times

On June 11, 2001, The New York Times reported that the lawyers of Mohamed Rashed Daoud al-'Owhali, who was convicted in the 1998 bombing of the American Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, tried to enter as evidence in his trial copies of a "Teach Yourself" handbook on Islam for each of the 12 jurors. The trial, the defense attorney argued, is about Americans' perceptions of Muslims. Prosecutors objected, but the judge eventually allowed the books to be admitted.