ISBN: 979-8-9936758-8-6

Author: Dr. Mamdooh Abdelmottlep

Title: Terrorism and the Criminal Justice System

About the Book: 

Terrorism and the Criminal Justice System: Global Perspectives on Law, Policy, and Practice offers a comprehensive examination of how criminal justice systems around the world respond to terrorism in an increasingly complex and evolving security landscape. The book brings together leading scholars and practitioners to explore key issues including counterterrorism legislation, intelligence and policing strategies, cyberterrorism, terrorist financing, and the ethical and human rights implications of counterterrorism operations. Through comparative analyses and real-world case studies, the volume highlights innovative approaches, policy challenges, and best practices in addressing terrorism across different jurisdictions. This work aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice, providing valuable insights for academics, policymakers, and law enforcement professionals.

About the Author: 

Professor Mamdooh Abdelmottlep (Ph.D., SJD) is an internationally recognized scholar in police science, criminal justice, and law enforcement leadership. He serves as the Executive Chairman of the International Police Science Association (IPSA) and has held academic and professional appointments across the United States, the Middle East, and Europe. His work focuses on policing, terrorism, global security, and the application of artificial intelligence in law enforcement. He is the founder of the World Internal Security and Police Index (WISPI) and has contributed extensively to advancing evidence-based policing and international security research.

About the Contributors:

Sentia wants to thank the following contributors to the book for their vast expertise, and the substantial content they provided to make Terrorism and The Criminal Justice System possible.

1. Mamdooh Abdelhameed Abdelmottlep, Ph.D., SJD — Editor

Professional summary:
Professor Abdelmottlep is Executive Chairman of the International Police Science Association and an Adjunct Professor of Police Administration and Law Enforcement at the University of St. Thomas in Houston. A former commander in Egyptian Police Special Operations and certified INTERPOL trainer, he specializes in police leadership, criminal justice administration, artificial intelligence, hybrid threats, and evidence-based policing.

Chapter contributions:
In Chapter 1, “Understanding Terrorism: Theorizing, Typologies, and Global Responses,” he establishes the book’s conceptual foundation by reviewing psychological, sociological, political, and cultural explanations of terrorism. He examines major terrorist typologies, international legal instruments, criminal-justice responses, human-rights concerns, and approaches to rehabilitation and prevention.

Chapter 7 examines the international effort to disrupt terrorist financing. It distinguishes terrorist financing from money laundering, explains the FATF framework and the American counterterrorist-financing model, and evaluates sanctions, financial intelligence, public-private cooperation, informal transfer systems, charities, cash couriers, and digital assets.

In Chapter 10, coauthored with Elena Rodriguez, he evaluates how artificial intelligence and predictive analytics are being used throughout counterterrorism investigations and criminal proceedings. The chapter emphasizes the need to balance improved security capabilities with due process, human rights, transparency, and algorithmic accountability.

Chapter 13 brings the volume’s principal arguments together. It identifies recurring tensions between security and liberty, secrecy and accountability, prevention and due process, and punishment and reintegration, offering principles for more effective and legitimate criminal-justice responses to terrorism.

2. Mohamed Ali Amri

Professional summary:
Mohamed Ali Amri is a Tunisian human-rights specialist whose work connects international human-rights law, criminal justice, and violence prevention. From 2020 to 2025, he served as a Human Rights Officer with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva. He holds graduate degrees in criminology, criminal justice, and international law.

Chapter contribution:
Chapter 2, “Intelligence-Led Justice: Secrecy, Disclosure, and Fair Trial Guarantees in Counterterrorism Prosecutions,” examines whether classified intelligence can be used in terrorism prosecutions without violating the right to a fair trial. Amri argues that intelligence-based prosecutions are not inherently incompatible with international human-rights law, provided defendants receive the essential substance of the case, a meaningful opportunity to challenge the evidence, and strong judicial oversight of secrecy claims.

3. Amanda Davies, Ph.D.

Professional summary:
Dr. Davies is a Dubai Police Academy academic and researcher with approximately two decades of experience developing police education and research in Australia and the UAE. Her work covers policing, security, emergency management, organizational resilience, and professional training.

Chapter contribution:
In Chapter 3, coauthored with Ghaleb Krame, Davies examines the strategic and legal consequences of designating major Latin American cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. The chapter explains how cartels increasingly combine organized crime, territorial control, paramilitary capabilities, political coercion, and public psychological violence. It considers how terrorist designation could expand sanctions, jurisdiction, intelligence activity, and enforcement powers while creating significant diplomatic, sovereignty, and legal concerns.

4. Ghaleb Krame Hilal, Ph.D.

Professional summary:
Dr. Krame is a Mexican security expert affiliated with El Colegio de Tamaulipas and Universidad Anáhuac México. He has more than 25 years of academic and operational experience involving cartels, terrorism, security-force development, drone threats, community-based violence prevention, and data-driven counterterrorism.

Chapter contribution:
Chapter 3 analyzes the increasingly blurred boundary between profit-driven cartels and politically coercive terrorist or insurgent organizations. Krame and Davies explore whether cartel violence, territorial governance, political interference, drone use, and public intimidation justify applying counterterrorism frameworks traditionally reserved for ideologically motivated groups.

5. John P. Sullivan, Ph.D.

Professional summary:
Dr. Sullivan is a law-enforcement and intelligence scholar with more than three decades of experience. After a 30-year career with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, he became affiliated with the University of Southern California’s Center on National Defense and Public Safety. His research addresses terrorism, criminal insurgency, transnational gangs, intelligence, and post-conflict policing.

Chapter contribution:
Chapter 4, coauthored with Daniel Weisz Argomedo, uses the Northern Irish Troubles as a case study in terrorism, intelligence, and cross-border cooperation. It examines relations between the United Kingdom and Ireland, police and military interaction, intelligence infiltration and surveillance, public trust, cross-border crime, and the evolution of legal and policing institutions through and after the conflict.

6. Daniel Weisz Argomedo, Ph.D.

Professional summary:
Dr. Weisz Argomedo is a lecturer in criminology at the University of California, Irvine, and Managing Editor of the International Police Science Association. His research encompasses cartel information operations, criminal networks, cyberwarfare, urban security, the war on drugs, women’s security, climate-related security, and Latin American politics.

Chapter contribution:
In Chapter 4, Weisz Argomedo and Sullivan assess how governments and criminal-justice institutions responded to the prolonged ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland. The chapter considers the difficulty of balancing counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations with civil liberties, legitimate policing, judicial oversight, and public confidence.

7. Maha Ghazi, Ph.D.

Professional summary:
Dr. Ghazi is a Moroccan-Egyptian field researcher specializing in terrorist offenders, deradicalization, rehabilitation, and reintegration. Her work draws on extensive research inside maximum-security prisons and collaboration with organizations including NATO, the OSCE, the African Union, UNOCT, and UNODC.

Chapter contribution:
Chapter 5, “From Data to Ties,” argues that modern counterterrorism intelligence must move beyond collecting information to understanding relationships. Ghazi introduces a “Relational Intelligence Ecosystem” in which state institutions, community members, and local intermediaries work through networks of trust and proximity. Comparative cases from Morocco, Nigeria, Somalia, Kenya, and Indonesia demonstrate both the value of community intelligence and its risks, including coercion, misinterpretation, and weak accountability.

8. Ramy El-Kady, Ph.D.

Professional summary:
Professor El-Kady is a Full Professor at the Dubai Police Academy and former Head of the Criminal Law Department at the Egyptian Police Academy. He specializes in criminal law, restorative justice, cybercrime, digital investigations, counterterrorism, and the effects of technological change on legal practice.

Chapter contribution:
Chapter 6, “Cyberterrorism and Legal Counterstrategies: The Egyptian and UAE Models,” compares how Egypt and the UAE address cyberterrorism. It considers the use of digital platforms for propaganda, recruitment, coordination, incitement, attacks on public institutions, and operational planning. El-Kady argues that effective cyber-counterterrorism requires updated laws, technological innovation, international cooperation, stronger digital infrastructure, and public education.

9. Nagah Mohamed Fawzy

Professional summary:
Major General Fawzy is a retired Egyptian law-enforcement leader with approximately 30 years of experience combating financial crime, banking crime, counterfeiting, money laundering, and terrorist financing. He held senior positions within the Egyptian Ministry of Interior and participated in national committees addressing corruption and illicit finance.

Chapter contribution:
Chapter 8 traces terrorist financing from traditional cash, banking, and hawala networks to systems shaped by artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, smart contracts, digital gaming platforms, deepfake fraud, social bots, and algorithmic money laundering. Fawzy argues that existing regulatory systems are not prepared for increasingly autonomous and concealed financial activity. He recommends legislative reform, AI-supported financial intelligence, stronger platform governance, and improved international coordination.

The table of contents also credits Fawzy as a coauthor of Chapter 7, which addresses FATF standards, the American counterterrorist-financing model, financial intelligence, sanctions, and international cooperation.

10. Rania Hodhod, Ph.D.

Professional summary:
Dr. Hodhod is a Professor in the TSYS School of Computer Science at Columbus State University and holds the Edwin and Florette Rothschild Chair. Her research includes artificial intelligence, expert systems, serious games, interactive narrative, and computational creativity. She has published more than 100 refereed articles.

Chapter contribution:
Chapter 9 examines how artificial intelligence and machine learning are transforming counterterrorism from a largely reactive undertaking into a predictive one. Hodhod considers AI’s ability to identify patterns, analyze enormous datasets, forecast risks, and detect cyberterrorist activity. She also evaluates vulnerabilities, legal implications, institutional responsibilities, and the need to preserve fundamental rights and public trust as criminal-justice agencies adopt predictive technologies.

11. Elena L. Rodriguez

Professional summary:
Rodriguez is a California educator and community-resilience specialist who works to prevent extremism through education, cultural engagement, youth empowerment, and the arts. Her programs promote inclusion, critical thinking, positive identity formation, and social cohesion, particularly among at-risk young people.

Chapter contribution:
In Chapter 10, coauthored with Mamdooh Abdelmottlep, Rodriguez examines the ethical and human consequences of using AI and predictive analytics in counterterrorism. The chapter covers applications ranging from early threat detection and investigation to court proceedings and post-release monitoring. It stresses that accuracy, fairness, explainability, privacy, legal oversight, and human accountability must accompany technological effectiveness.

12. Inaam Alsayed Aldosouki

Professional summary:
Aldosouki is a lawyer and legal consultant with more than 30 years of experience across Egypt, the UAE, and Qatar. Her expertise includes commercial and corporate law, contracts, intellectual property, international investment, dispute resolution, and arbitration. She practices with Lotus Law Firm and is an authorized arbitrator with the Abu Dhabi Commercial Arbitration Centre.

Chapter contribution:
Chapter 11, “From Clicks to Caliphates,” argues that online platforms do more than passively host extremist material. Recommendation systems, engagement incentives, frictionless sharing, online subcultures, and algorithmic amplification can help produce and normalize violent extremism. Aldosouki examines how extremist actors exploit platform design to build identity, cultivate belonging, reinforce grievances, and move individuals toward action, concluding with implications for moderation, prevention, platform design, and public policy.

13. Gbemileke P. Apata

Professional summary:
Apata is a safety, risk-management, and emergency-management specialist with more than a decade of professional experience. He serves as a Senior Specialist in Environmental Health, Safety, and Emergency Management at Eurofins Scientific USA and volunteers with the American Red Cross Disaster Action Team.

Chapter contribution:
Chapter 12 evaluates Nigeria’s Operation Safe Corridor program for rehabilitating “repentant” terrorists. Apata examines the tension between forgiveness, national-security expediency, punishment, restorative justice, victims’ rights, and the rule of law. He questions the legality of granting clemency before prosecution and identifies weaknesses in screening and post-release monitoring. Comparing Nigeria with programs in Saudi Arabia and Colombia, he recommends clearer statutory authority, stronger human-rights safeguards, victim reparations, and more rigorous oversight.