UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, v. MUSTAFA MUHAMMAD MUFTA AL- Case No. 17-cr-213 (CRC) IMAM, Defendant. MEMORANDUM OPINION On September 11 and 12, 2012, a group of Libyan militants attacked U.S. diplomatic and intelligence facilities in Benghazi, Libya. Four Americans died in the attacks, including then- United States Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens. The United States alleges, in a seventeen-count superseding indictment, that Defendant Mustafa Muhammad Mufta Al-Imam participated in the attacks. Al-Imam has moved to dismiss all but one of the counts. He contends that most of the statutes under which he is charged do not apply to conduct undertaken outside of the United States; that he cannot be prosecuted for eleven of the counts because his capture violated international law; and that six counts must be dismissed because the offenses charged apply only to legally operated federal facilities, which he says excludes the facilities here. Save for the illegal capture argument, the Court has previously considered and rejected each of Al-Imam’s challenges in ruling on a motion to dismiss brought by one of his purported co-conspirators, Ahmed Abu Khatallah, who was convicted in November 2017 of three of the offenses with which Al-Imam is also charged. See Judgment, United States v. Ahmed Abu Khatallah, 14-cr-141, ECF No. 547. Recognizing this obstacle to dismissal, Al-Imam urges the Court to reconsider its prior analysis, particularly with respect to his extraterritorial challenge. But the Court finds no reason to depart from its conclusion in Abu Khatallah. It also finds Al- Imam’s capture argument unavailing. Accordingly, and for the reasons that follow, the Court will deny Al-Imam’s motion to dismiss with respect to all counts. I. Background Muammar Gaddafi seized power in Libya in 1969 and remained its leader until 2011, when a civil war broke out. Indictment ¶ 2. The war erupted in the Libyan coastal city of Benghazi, which was controlled by rebels and served as the base of operations for the rebel-led Transitional National Council (“TNC”). Id. On February 25, 2011, the U.S. Department of State evacuated American personnel from Libya and suspended its operations at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli. Id. ¶ 3. Less than two months later, in April 2011, the State Department reestablished its presence in the country with the arrival in Benghazi of U.S. Special Envoy J. Christopher Stevens. Id. ¶ 4. On July 15, 2011, the United States officially recognized the TNC as Libya’s governing authority. Id. One month later, Gaddafi was ousted from power and killed. Id. In November 2011, the United States established a diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, known as the U.S. Special Mission (“Mission”), where a contingent of State Department personnel were stationed. Id. ¶ 5. The United States established a second Benghazi facility, this one known as the Annex, where additional U.S. personnel were based. Id. ¶ 6. In May 2012, the United States dispatched Stevens, now the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, to the Libyan capital of Tripoli. Id. ¶ 7. ...
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