Solitary Confinement Inappropriate He Says
TAMPA — As vice chairman of the National Authority for Tunnels in Egypt, Abdellatif Mohamed has many influential contacts.
Speaking from Cairo, he said he is using those contacts to lobby on behalf of his son, Ahmed Mohamed.
Ahmed Mohamed is in Orient Road Jail in solitary confinement after begin indicted on explosives charges.
Mohamed, 26, and Youssef Megahed, 21, both students at the University of South Tampa, were arrested last month in South Carolina after, authorities say, explosives were found in the trunk of their car. They had been stopped for speeding.
The indictment charges the pair with carrying explosive materials across state lines. Mohamed also faces charges that he taught and demonstrated how to use the explosives.
Abdellatif Mohamed said he is angry his son is in solitary confinement and is reaching out to his contacts to make sure his son is being treated humanely.
“This is not good,” he said. “He is an Egyptian citizen and should be treated better than this.”
Abdellatif Mohamed, who has not spoken to his son in nine days, said because of his position, “I am in contact with a lot of high-ranking people, and all of them are helping me.”
He said he is meeting with officials from the Egyptian ministries of Foreign Affairs and Higher Education to help secure legal representation.
Last week, a federal judge in Tampa postponed a bail hearing for Ahmed Mohamed and Megahed because neither man had enough time to find a lawyer in Tampa.
It is unclear whether Andrew Savage, who represented Megahed, or Lionel Lofton, who represented Mohamed, will continue to serve as counsel. Both attorneys are from South Carolina.
Savage, who arrived in Tampa on Sunday, recommended that the Megaheds hire a local lawyer to handle their son’s case but said he would stay on in some capacity because of the close relationship he has built with the family. Lofton said he gave the Egyptian Embassy a budget and is waiting to hear its response.
Savage said the Megahed family is seriously considering having their son seek representation from the federal public defender’s office.
“The Megahed family is a hard-working family that has limited financial resources,” Savage said. “Even with local counsel, the cost of representation in what’s sure to be a hard uphill battle is going to be expensive.”
Stetson University law professor Charlie Rose said this is a difficult case to defend.
“The government will make it difficult, potentially every step of the way,” he said. “Is it going to be hard to secure counsel? I’m sure it will be hard to secure counsel, but that’s a function of the type of crime we’re dealing with more than anything else.”
Linda Moreno, who represented Sami Al-Arian in his terrorism-related trial, said she has been contacted by the defense. She would not say whether she is going to take the case.
Abdellatif Mohamed says his son is innocent and was merely celebrating his birthday at the time of the traffic stop. He turned 26 the day after he was arrested.
“If he were a different nationality, this would not have happened,” Mohamed said. “This happened because he is Muslim and Arabian.”
Mohamed said once a lawyer is chosen, he will fly to Tampa.
Tribune reporter Elaine Silvestrini and News Channel 8 reporter Krista Klaus contributed to this report.
