Lawyer: Terror case documents in ‘classified morass’

September 26, 2013 at 4:21p.m.

CHICAGO (AP) — A lawyer for a suburban Chicago teenager accused of terrorism says the government’s bid to restrict access to some potential evidence on security grounds hinders her legal defense.

The American-born Abdella Tounisi has denied seeking to join an al-Qaida-affiliated force fighting Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria.

Attorney Molly Armour has complained in a filing this week in Chicago federal court that she’s received only a small portion of the case documents.

She says other potential evidence “remains submerged in a classified morass.” She alleges prosecutors won’t even declassify the Aurora teen’s own statements recorded by investigators.

Prosecutors’ spokesman Randall Samborn declined comment today.

A trial date hasn’t been set. If convicted of attempting to provide material support to terrorists, Tounisi faces a maximum 15 years in prison.