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Mourad Topalian (Template:Lang-hy) also known as Murad, Mourad, "Moose" is a prominent Armenian-American political activist, former chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), who visited the White House several times. He was convicted by federal crimes of US relating to terrorism On January 24, 2001, he received a prison sentence of 37 months, the maximum allowed under sentencing guidelines and three years of supervised release. DNA analysis of the fragments in 1999 matched their profile to that of the leader of a terrorist group, Mourad Topalian. He received recognition from ANCA for driving forward and promoting Armenian history and the cause of the Armenian nation. When Turkey sent an official letter to the United nations on concerns sentencing of Mourad Topalian the government of Armenia presented a letter on his defense regarding the language used.

Biography

He is known as a prominent member of the Armenian society in the USA. He was the president of Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) which is an organization with an office in Washington that serves as an advocate on Armenian issues and an affiliate of Armenian Revolutionary Federation. His relationship with ANCA began in 1976.

Topalian visited the White House on various Armenian related occasions. According to US News, "tall and charismatic", Topalian "was well known in the halls of Congress and had met with President Clinton a half-dozen times."

The fall of 1999, Mourad Topalian moved to Cleveland, and taken a job as a vice president of Cuyahoga Community College.

The federal charges were filed in 1999, under United States v. Mourad Topalian, Case No. 1:99 CR 35. Topalian resigned from his post at the ANCA. For many of Topalian's "alleged" compatriots did not charged because of the expired statute of limitations. This was not applicable for the crimes of "holding the explosives," which Topalian was initially charged with.

US vs. Mourad Topalian

The investigation against Topalian began with the 1996 discovery of weapons and explosives in a suburban Bedford, Ohio storage garage. The storage unit was opened after rent went unpaid for six months (Topalian had been renting that space since 1980). Inside, police found guns and 100 pounds of decaying explosives in the storage facility. At the time of his arrest, Topalian was accused as a suspected leader of the Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide and a participant of 1980 bombing of the Turkish Mission in New York City.

Indictment

In the 1970s, a wave of terror fell upon Turkish officials, engineered by Armenian extremists furious over Turkish denials of the genocide. The attacks included 160 bombings and assassinations of 22 Turkish diplomats worldwide. The terror ebbed by the mid-1980s, but many attacks went unsolved. Topalian was accused of plotting attacks against Turkish targets in the United States for two decades, and was suspected of links to two 1981 bombings in California, against the Orange County Convention Center in Anaheim and the Turkish consulate in Beverly Hills. Between 1976 and 1996, Topalian allegedly ordered or was involved directly in bombings in New York and Anaheim and Beverly Hills, Calif., the robbery of munitions factories, and the illegal purchase of numerous high-powered weapons. Overall, the indictment alleged that Topalian was "a part of the conspiracy that the defendant and others both known and unknown formed an 'elite group' of individuals in order to bring publicity and attention to the Armenian genocide of 1915, commonly referred to as 'the Cause,' " prosecutors said in court papers. Key evidence against Topalian, came from two of his former allies.

According to the indictment, Topalian recruited bombers and assassins from Armenian American youth, and provided weapons demonstrations at Armenian Youth Federation summer camps in Franklin, Massachusetts. According to federal authorities in Ohio, a prominent Armenian-American once used the camp as a training ground for terrorism aimed at the Turkish government. Mourad "Moose" Topalian showed others how to use submachine guns and built and exploded booby traps - one went off prematurely, injuring a person - in 1976 and 1977. He also sent Armenian youth to Beirut to train in weapons and explosive tactics.

But the most serious charge against Topalian was that of involvement in a car bombing that injured three people outside the Turkish Mission to the United Nations in New York City in October 1980. Police suspect that he helped arrange the bombing and directed a group that stole weapons and explosives used for the attack. Between 1979 and 1980, Topalian directed various individuals to travel to Manhattan, NY, for surveillance of the building in which the Turkish Mission to the UN was located. Topalian himself traveled to New York on 11 October 1980 to transport explosives to bomb the Turkish Mission to the UN. Finally on 12 October 1980 Topalian and two other persons detonated the bombs causing damage to a stolen car they were using and to the Turkish Mission at the UN destroying property belonging to Turkey. In this act three innocent by passers were injured. Topalian was questioned about the New York bombing and denied he was a terrorist but agreed to plead guilty to storing the weapons, which prosecutors said were used in the Turkish Mission bombing.

Topalian also was accused of ordering a California man to bring five sticks of dynamite and blasting caps to Boston in 1982 that were to be used in a bombing in Philadelphia. FBI agents intercepted the explosives and said the suspect, Steven John Dadian, may have had ties to the Justice Commandos.

Conviction

Mourad Topalian was charged in October 1999 with conspiracy acts, possession and storage of explosives and firearms (possession of machine guns and possession of firearms with defaced serial numbers), and transportation of them in interstate commerce. The Bedford storage facility used by him and his accomplices was within the vicinity of Childtime Children’s Day Care Center, an operating gas station, and an office complex. The storage was less than 300 feet from a public highway with a daily traffic volume of 3,000 vehicles. The charges of terrorism were taken out after the plea-bargaining and his admission of the charges. He denied he was a terrorist but agreed to plead guilty to storing the weapons. Topalian reached an agreement with prosecutors in 2001, pleading guilty to charges of storing illegal explosives and owning two machine guns.

International Issues

Awards

In 2000, ANCA presented Topalian with the "Freedom Award" for his "dedication to advancing the Armenian cause,” and his "unique brand of leadership in driving forward and promoting Armenian history and the cause of the Armenian nation."

References

1. ^ FBI Publication: Terrorism 2000/2001
2. ^ Gotti ex marries terror princess. NY Post, 14 July 2008
3. US ACCUSES PRO-ARMENIA GROUP'S CHIEF OF BOMB PLOT. Associated Press. Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Ill.: Oct 16, 1999. pg. 13
4. What next, Armenia? What next, Diaspora?. The Armenian Weekly. October 30, 1999
5. Man Accused of Plot to Bomb Turkish Targets. Los Angeles Times. Oct 16, 1999. pg. 16
6. ^ (Walton 2006, p. 342)
7. Harvey W. Kushner. Encyclopedia of terrorism. SAGE, 2002. ISBN 0761924086, 9780761924081, p. 86
8. Mitochondrial DNA Examination of Cold Case Crime Scene Hairs by Terry Melton. Issue: April/May 2009
9. ^ The Filthiest 48 Hours. LA Weekly
10. Index to Proceedings of the Security Council: 2001, Published by United Nations Publications, 2002 ISBN 9789211008944 page 159 meetings A/55/931 and A/55/1008
11. ^ US accuses pro-Armenia group's chief of bomb plot. Associated Press. Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Ill.: Oct 16, 1999. pg. 13
12. Statement of the Armenian National Committee of America. ARF News
13. ^ U.S.News & World Report. Following Terror's Forgotten Trail. An explosives case raises ghosts of a bloody past. By David E. Kaplan, 1/28/01
14. ^ The Boston Globe. Armenian-American site in Franklin named Camp was allegedly used for terrorist training, by John Ellement. October 16, 1999
15. Activist charged with being head of bomb group. News & Observer. Raleigh, N.C.: Oct 16, 1999. pg. A.8
16. Former CCC vice president admits to storing explosives, by John F. Hagan. The Plain Dealer. Cleveland, Ohio: May 12, 2000. pg. 1.A

Bibliography

Walton, Richard H. (2006). Cold Case Homicides: Practical Investigative Techniques. Law. CRC Press. ISBN 9780849322099. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)

External links

UN bomb attack suspect faces jail term. The Independent. 24 January 2001

Template:Justice Commandos Against Armenian Genocide

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