Zacarias Moussaoui requests transfer to France to serve sentence

Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person convicted in the United States in connection with the September 11 attacks, has requested a transfer to France to serve the remainder of his life sentence. His lawyer, Romain Ruiz, submitted the request to the French Ministry of Justice, citing a 1983 bilateral agreement between France and the United States that allows for the transfer of convicted prisoners.

Moussaoui, 58, is currently held in a maximum-security prison in Colorado. He was convicted in 2006 for complicity in the Al-Qaida terrorist attacks. The legal request cites “exceptional circumstances” regarding the perceived injustice of his trial, his current detention conditions, and his family situation.

The defense argues that Moussaoui has faced “inhumane living conditions” while in isolation and that his right to a defense was obstructed. Furthermore, the lawyer noted that Moussaoui’s mother is unable to travel to Colorado due to health and economic reasons. The request does not seek release, but rather the right to serve the sentence within France.