Apparently he believes that his beheading was moderate and will not traumatize the little tykes. "Hassan lawyers eye psych defense," by Matt Gryta for the Buffalo News, March 6 (thanks to Mark):
Attorneys for Muzzammil S. "Mo" Hassan Friday said the media and public have misconstrued Hassan's actions in the beheading of his estranged wife, Aasiya Zubair Hassan.
Many have wrongly come to regard Hassan as an Islamic terrorist, and the general public is suffering from "Islamophobia," defense attorneys Julie Atti Rogers and Frank M. Bogulski said after a court appearance Friday.
Yes, beheading your wife in the studios of your Islamic TV station can lead some people to Misunderstand the Religion of Peace.
Hassan is "a nonpracticing Muslim," Rogers said, while Bogulski stressed that Hassan "doesn't pray five times a day" as an obedient Muslim would.
Oh, well, then! Islam must have nothing to do with his beheading of his wife -- just ignore the fact that the Qur'an itself speaks of Muslims beheading their enemies twice (8:12, 47:4). These passages speak of beheading in the context of battle, but they create a cultural atmosphere in which beheading becomes an acceptable option.
And as for his being a "nonpracticing Muslim," remember that Hassan was a self-identified Muslim enough to start an Islamic TV station, Bridges TV, designed to improve the image of Muslims and Islam in the U.S. It isn't as if he was indifferent to his faith.
Hassan, 44, is accused of killing and beheading his 37-year-old wife on Feb. 12, 2009, soon after she began divorce proceedings against him.
Erie County Judge Thomas P. Franczyk has scheduled a May 4 hearing to consider defense challenges to an alleged confession Hassan made to Orchard Park police about an hour after his wife was killed in the office of their Bridges cable television station.
During a brief court session Friday, Franczyk kept in place his order barring a psychiatric defense for Hassan, but he agreed to reconsider if Hassan's attorneys file motions in coming months.
Bogulski recently claimed that the victim drove her husband into an uncontrollable homicidal rage, and he and Rogers said Friday they are confident they can convince the judge of the propriety of their defense strategy. They acknowledged they need the court-approved release of some of Hassan's funds to finance their effort....
The two attorneys also said they will begin court action to try to get Hassan's two children returned from Pakistan, where they were taken by Aasiya Zubair Hassan's relatives.
Hassan fears the children "will be radicalized" in Pakistan, Bogulski said.
Yeah, no chance of that happening at home!
