Trial Begins for Azamat Tazhayakov

Boston, Massachusetts: USA

Innocents be dragged in: Young People's Guilt by Association
by Sis. Karin Friedemann 

A foreign student from Kazakhstan, Azamat Tazhayakov, age 20, is facing 25 years in prison for "obstruction of justice" and lying to the FBI. Dzhokhar (Jahar) Tsarnaev texted a mutual friend, Dias Kadyrbayev around the same time as his photo was released to the public as a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings, saying "If you want, you can go to my room and take what's there," followed by a blushing smiley face, which defense attorney Wooldridge said was a symbol that meant marijuana to the friends.

The UMass Dartmouth students are accused of going into Jahar's dorm room along with a third friend, Robel Philipos, taking Tsarnaev's laptop and disposing of Tsarnaev's backpack, which contained fireworks. The three friends are to be tried separately. Azamat's father, a wealthy oil man and local Khazak politician, insisted on a speedy trial even though the attorneys wanted more time to prepare, so Azamat's trial comes first.

"The government will prove to you that the defendant and his co-conspirator removed the backpack for one reason, and that reason was to protect their friend who they had just learned was one of the two suspected Marathon bombers," said US assistant attorney Stephanie Siegmann in her opening statement.

The first witness was Andrew Dwinells, Jahar's roommate, who testified that Dias showed him a text that said something about Jahar leaving the country and he won't be back so Dias can go ahead and take what he wants.

Andrew testified that he saw Dias go into a drawer and take a bag of pot while the other two watched TV. He testified that he did not see any of the friends take the backpack or the computer. He never saw Jahar with any pressure cooker, BBs, or bomb making material. He also said Jahar acted normally after the marathon. Andrew says he didn't think Jahar was a terrorist. Andrew testified that he and Jahar once discussed the theory that 9/11 was a government conspiracy.

The next witness was Alexa Guevara, another UMass Dartmouth student. She said her girlfriends called Azamat "Mama's Boy" because he was always the good one among the friends. She also testified that Jahar never said anything anti-American to her. Alexa's eyes teared up when testifying that she never thought Jahar could do anything like that. Even after the FBI released Jahar's picture she did not believe it.

FBI Agent Sara Wood next testified that Azamat had told her that Dias showed him a text from Jahar on the evening of April 18, 2013 saying that he did the bombing. However, the FBI has not been able to produce this text, despite their thorough investigation of the boys' cell phones and computers.

Defense attorney Myers aggressively questioned Wood as to why she looked at the prosecutor when answering whether Azamat said he or Dias took the backpack.

The defense also suggested that FBI agents did not allow Azamat to use the bathroom until he signed a waiver of his rights.

Dias' partner, Bayan Kumiskali gave testimony on video as a cooperating witness. "The black-haired beauty from Kazakhstan attended Babson College while Dias was at UMass with Tsarnaev," tweeted journalist Laurel J. Sweet.

Bayan said she didn't want any of that stuff that was taken from Jahar's dorm room. On 4/18, she was in the New Bedford apartment and Dias left for about 1.5 hours starting around 9:30pm. Dias told her he had Jahar's backpack in the privacy of the bedroom later that night. She was "mad" when she heard this and told him to "get it out of here."

"He hadn't thought this might be something." she said.

The most clear proof that the boys did not intend to obstruct justice is the fact that inside the backpack was Jahar's homework assignment. They were clearly not hiding evidence. As an engineering major, Jahar's roommate Andrew owned a lab kit, which contained wire, wire cutters, and other items. The kit was in plain sight on his bookcase on the 18th, but Dzhokhar's three friends did not take it.

Most likely, they literally took what they wanted from Jahar's room because they knew he wasn't coming back: a laptop, marijuana, fireworks, a thumb drive, a spiral notebook and a jar of Vaseline. Most likely they took the fireworks because they wanted them.

However, they didn't take all the fireworks. The FBI also admitted in testimony last week that more fireworks were found in the dorm room. FBI agent David McCollan testified that the fireworks were torn but some explosive powder remained. Even though fireworks are not an efficient source of bomb making material, one would think that if the fireworks were used to make a bomb they would be cut cleanly at the top and completely emptied out.

Neither Aza nor Dias threw away the computer. The thumb drive was found in the trash but if there was any incriminating evidence on it I'm sure we would have learned of it.

The most incriminating thing Azamat could come up with to say to the FBI about his friend was, "that Jahar had a 'little black gun' that shot pellets, and he once witnessed him shoot at a plastic bottle.

1st BMB Trial Commences as Jahar’s Birthday Approaches

July 17, 2014 by TMO 

The trial of Azamat Tazhayakov began July 7 and is expected to conclude next week. Azamat along with two other friends, Dias Kadyrbayev and Robel Philipos are accused of concealing evidence from the FBI in relation to their pursuit of his friend, Dzhokhar (Jahar) Tsarnaev, who is accused of bombing the Boston Marathon in April 2013. Dias and Robel will be tried separately. Azamat’s father, a wealthy oil man and local Khazak politician, insisted on a speedy trial even though the attorneys wanted more time to prepare, so Azamat’s trial comes first.

“The government will prove to you that the defendant and his co-conspirator removed the backpack for one reason, and that reason was to protect their friend who they had just learned was one of the two suspected Marathon bombers,” said US assistant attorney Stephanie Siegmann in her opening statement.

A number of mutual friends were subpoenaed as witnesses. Without exception they testified that Jahar was not acting strangely after the bombings, that he had never said anything anti-American, he had never been seen with a pressure cooker, BBs or bomb making material, that they could not believe he was a terrorist, and that his friends had gone into Jahar’s dorm room to take marijuana after receiving a message from Jahar saying “take whatever you want.” They were all under the impression that Jahar was leaving the country. Dias Kadyrbayev removed some fireworks from the room, but not all of the fireworks. He also took a laptop, a spiral notebook, a thumb drive, and a jar of Vaseline and took them home to the New Bedford, Massachusetts apartment he shared with Azamat. FBI testimony revealed that there were still other fireworks found in the apartment.

Only after Dias’ girlfriend Bayan Kumiskali told him to “get rid of it” did Dias throw away the bag with fireworks, but he kept the laptop. It had not occurred to him that these items could be evidence of anything. It does not appear that he was trying to conceal evidence, since he threw away Jahar’s homework assignment in the same bag. Azamat’s defense also argued that Azamat never threw away the bag, it was Dias who did.

As an engineering major, Jahar’s roommate Andrew Dwinells owned a lab kit, which contained wire, wire cutters, and other items. The kit was in plain sight on his bookcase on the 18th, but Dzhokhar’s three friends did not take it.

A number of FBI agents gave testimony that was often contradictory. The “white hat” that they had removed from the apartment as evidence had a different number on it than the hat in the surveillance photo. Agent Walker gave testimony that contradicted his previous testimony. He now “doesn’t recall” many things he said it pretrial testimony. Agent Walker says he could have arrested the men on 4/19/13 but then admitted he testified previously he had no basis to arrest them. The FBI admitted there’s no evidence Azamat knew about the bombing, though earlier Agent Walker testified that Azamat had done web searches for Tsarnaev before he had been identified as a suspect. Defense attorney Wooldridge asks Agent Walker if he realized the media had previously misidentified suspects in bombing. Walker says he was “not aware of this.”

On Monday, July 14 the defense and prosecution rested their cases. Judge Woodlock told the jury the burden of proof is on the government, and that they should not hold Azamat’s decision not to testify against him. The judge referred to the possible defense view that Azamat’s actions on 4/18/13 were related to hiding drug activity, not terrorism. Closing arguments are to take place Wednesday July 16.

Jahar Supporters Initiate Birthday Campaign 2014

This July 22 will be Dzokhar (Jahar) Tsarnaev’s second birthday in prison held in solitary confinement. He will be 21 years old. Since he cannot receive cards, letters, gifts or any other kind of birthday wishes, Amber Bishop from the Free Jahar movement has come up with the perfect way to let him know how much people care about him.

The group is asking people to do magnificent works of charity in Jahar’s name. ”This could mean donating to a charity, taking snacks to your local fire department, handing out balloons to children in the hospital, giving a flower to random passersby, helping someone to their car or carrying their groceries. Mow someone’s lawn for free. Take food to the food pantry. If all you have to offer is prayers, then pray for someone. The sky is the limit when it comes to being kind.”

Amber is creating a scrapbook of everyone’s “amazing deeds” that will be given to his sister, who promised to tell him all about it when she visits him in prison.

“The prosecution contends that Jahar inspires people. Let’s show them how right they are,” writes Amber. “You may be wondering how this campaign “helps” him. Just imagine if when arguing his character at the SAMs hearing and how he could potentially inspire others to continue his work, the defense can produce a book full of heart-felt, charitable deeds that our sweet boy has inspired us to do… He can only do these things through us, so don’t let him down.”

The Tsarnaev family likes charities that feed the hungry. They suggested sending money to the needy in Syria, but they also mentioned that they care deeply about Africa, Palestine, and Pakistan.

“A small act of kindness can go a long way in this world. It can start a chain reaction of good deeds. “I can’t wait to see what you send!” writes Amber. She suggests sending donations in his name, when possible, or letting people know you are doing this deed for Jahar in some way.

If you would like to contribute to this effort, message Amber Bishop on facebook or send an email to acbishop74@yahoo.com