Mohamed Yousry is an American interpreter and translator who was appointed by the court to assist in the trial of Sheikh

Omar Abdel Rahman Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman ( ar, عمر عبد الرحمن), (ʾUmar ʾAbd ar-Raḥmān; 3 May 1938 – 18 February 2017), commonly known in the United States as "The Blind Sheikh", was a blind Egyptian Islamist militant who served a life sent ...

, the blind Egyptian cleric who was convicted in 1996 of plotting terrorist attacks against various sites in the New York City area. On February 10, 2005, Yousry was indicted in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, along with attorney

Lynne Stewart Lynne Irene Stewart (October 8, 1939 – March 7, 2017) was an American defense attorney who was known for representing controversial, famous defendants. She herself was convicted on charges of conspiracy and providing material support to terro ...

and Ahmed Abdel Sattar, of conspiring to provide, and providing material support to terrorism and conspiring to defraud the U.S. government, and was convicted. Yousry was originally scheduled to be sentenced in September 2006,article in The Nation
/ref> but he was sentenced on October 16, 2006, to one year and eight months. Yousry translated a letter from Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman that Stewart later released to a reporter. Abdel Rahman was under special administrative measures, which attorney Stewart violated by releasing this letter to the public. Although these press reports state that there is no question that Stewart violated these special administrative measures, whether Yousry did so is much less clear. The

American Translators Association The American Translators Association (ATA) is the largest professional association of translators and interpreters in the United States with nearly 8,500 members in more than 100 countries. Founded in 1959, membership is open to anyone with an ...

and the

National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

(NAJIT) issued a joint statement about this case, which took a neutral stand about Yousry's guilt or innocence. This statement and its position have been the object of criticism by some members of the translation and interpreting profession. NAJIT later responded to these criticisms with a two-page letter detailing their broad reasons for failing to support Yousry, as well as listing specific examples of where they felt he deviated from just being a translator. His conviction was later affirmed and he began serving his sentence in November 2009. Yousry was released on April 29, 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yousry, Mohamed Living people Arabic–English translators Year of birth missing (living people) Interpreters American people imprisoned on charges of terrorism