The strange case of Kamran Akhtar continued Monday in Charlotte.
A federal grand jury on Monday indicted a Pakistani citizen who was arrested last month after a police officer spotted him videotaping Charlotte's skyline.Kamran Akhtar, 35, of New York City, was charged with six counts in the new indictment, but none of them involved terrorism.
Akhtar was charged in the indictment with two immigration violations and four counts of lying to investigators after he was detained by a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer on July 20. He could face up to 55 years if convicted on all six counts.
George Miller, an attorney for Akhtar, said the new charges were not much different than what his client had already faced in a criminal complaint.
"There's not a lot of change and there is not a single terror-related charge," he said. "I'm pleased about that and I'm confident there won't be any terrorism charges." Akhtar will plead innocent to all six counts when he is arraigned, Miller said.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Darrel Stephens had to defend Akhtar's detention at a recent community meeting called by the Charlotte chapter of the anti-Semitic Islamic Political Party of America.
Some at the meeting had questioned whether the man was profiled because of his appearance or religion."I can say without reservation that the officer who stopped him has no idea what this individual's faith was," Stephens said.
Police have said they responded to evasive behavior, saying Akhtar tried to put the camera away when an officer approached him. Police also said he told the officer he was going to the bus terminal on West Trade Street, though he was walking in the opposite direction.
Stephens said police have investigated reports of 25 to 30 people videotaping buildings uptown in the last 18 months. Akhtar was different only because of his behavior and his inability to answer basic questions.
Read the full text of the federal indictment (PDF)
Posted by Alan at August 24, 2004 06:16 AM