Accession Number: C.2021.51.4
Dimensions: 22.25 in X 30 in
Dimensions (Metric): 56.515 cm X 76.2 cm
Credit Line: Gift of Edward B. MacMahon
Fayez Bafana
Description
Drawing of a 9/11 trial courtroom drawing by Dana Verkouteren titled, "Fayez Bafana." The drawing depicts activity that occurred on March 8, 2006, during Zacarias Moussaoui’s sentencing trial. Faiz Bafana, described as a terrorist financier in various press reports, can be seen on a video monitor in testimony recorded in 2002. In the lower left right corner, beneath the figure of a woman, the artist has written, “Aicha el Wafi – Mother” (spelled “Zicha” in the drawing) and identified the bearded man wearing a prisoner’s green jumpsuit as “Fayez Bafana.” The woman is not Bafana’s mother but is Zacarias Moussaoui’s mother. The drawing is signed.
Historical Notes
It is common practice for attorneys and others involved in legal proceedings to purchase courtroom drawings or prints derived from them. Drawings such as this, document specific moments of significance in the courtroom.
The drawing titled "Fayez Bafana," depicts activity that occurred on March 8, 2006, during Moussaoui’s sentencing trial. Faiz Bafana, described as a terrorist financier can be seen on a video monitor in testimony recorded in 2002. Bafana is seated in the lower left wearing a green prison jumpsuit.
Zacarias Moussaoui aroused suspicion while attending flight training classes in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in summer 2001 and was detained for a violation of his immigrant status. After 9/11, some suspected that Moussaoui might have been the “20th hijacker” and asserted that the 9/11 attacks could have been prevented if the FBI had acted sooner and more robustly. Moussaoui was charged with six counts of conspiracy in December 2001. During a lengthy trial, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison.