The father of the man at the center of an international terrorism investigation pleaded not guilty Friday to providing false information to investigators during his appearance in a federal courtroom in Denver.
Mohammed Zazi, 53, is charged with lying to the FBI on Sept. 16 during voluntary questioning about his son’s activities.
Mohammed Zazi is accused of denying he received a phone call from a person in New York warning him that police there were asking questions about 24-year-old Najibullah Zazi.
Federal prosecutors say they have evidence in the form of a wiretap that Mohammed Zazi received the call.
“I have not seen a shred of evidence yet,” said Mohammed Zazi’s lawyer, Edward Harris.
Harris has filed a legal challenge of the evidence obtained by the FBI, claiming that it may have not been legally collected.
But Harris does not know for sure because the warrant for the wiretap was obtained under the secret Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Harris said there may be language-barrier issues because Mohammed Zazi does not speak English.
A charge of making false statements in a matter involving international or domestic terrorism carries an eight-year prison term.
In New York, Najibullah Zazi has pleaded not guilty of conspiring to make a weapon of mass destruction.
The FBI believes that the younger Zazi got bombmaking training in Pak istan last year and that he had instructions on his laptop on how to make the weapons.
Najibullah Zazi is accused of purchasing beauty-supply products that contain the kind of chemicals used in making hydrogen-peroxide bombs.
Agents followed Zazi from Colorado to New York City by car because they feared he may have planned an attack there on the anniversary of Sept. 11.
Najibullah Zazi has denied that he received bombmaking training or that he was planning a terrorist attack.
He is due back in the Brooklyn courtroom on Dec. 3 for a status hearing.
Online.
Felisa Cardona: 303-954-121 9 or fcardona@denverpost.com
