The jury in the trial of a man accused of threatening to kill an American lawyer yesterday heard a recording of the phone call in which the accused is alleged to have said he would put a “bullet” in the other man’s head.
The recording was played on the fifth day of evidence in the trial of Ali Charaf Damache (45), with an address at John Colwyn House, High Street, Waterford.
He denies charges of threatening to kill Michigan-based lawyer and former candidate for the US Congress Majed Moughni, and sending him a menacing message by telephone.
The phone call was made the day after Mr Moughni organised a protest rally, against “terrorism in the name of Islam” outside a courthouse in Detroit where a man “connected with al-Qaeda” was being charged with attempting to blow up an aircraft at Detroit Airport.
At Waterford Circuit Court yesterday, the jury heard a man telling Mr Moughni over the phone that he heard about the protest rally in the “kafir [non-believer] media”. The caller told Mr Moughni, “if you were in front of me, I would shoot you. I would put a bullet in your head”.
The caller in the recording could be heard telling Mr Moughni he was “really a stupid man” and that he would “get you”. Some of the conversation was in Arabic.
Mícheál O’Higgins SC, defending, went through some of the recording with Det Sgt Siobhan Keating, who had played the audio CD in court. He outlined that the caller said, towards the end of the exchange, “peace be with you, congratulations you dog” and Mr Moughni replied, “thanks for the call, it means a lot”. The caller then called him “stupid” again, before hanging up.
The trial continues today.