A Kensington teen charged with murdering his allegedly abusive father will walk out of his Rikers Island cell and return back to school after a judge granted the 19-year-old bail on Friday, which his lawyer says is a huge win for the teen and his family so early in the court proceedings.
“Everyone is happy,” said attorney Michael Cibella. “The mother is beside herself happy — her son is coming home.”
A grand jury indicted Hassan Razzaq with murder three weeks ago, after he allegedly fatally stabbed his father Mohammad, who Cibella claims physically and sexually abused the teen and his siblings for years and had been on an hours-long rampage the night he died
Family members, who have rallied around Razzaq in the wake of the incident by wearing and selling T-shirts that read “#FreeHassanRazzaq,” claim he acted in self-defense.
Cibella on Friday entered a plea of not guilty on behalf of his client and made an impassioned appeal to Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Neil Firetog to grant bail, arguing that Razzaq — who appeared before the court via a video call from Rikers — would never flee knowing he has a life in Brooklyn that will go on after the trial.
“He has every intention and every reason to come back to court,” he said.
Cibella cited Razzaq’s reputation as a good student and a conscientious community member, saying one Kingsborough Community College professor placed him in the top 10 students of his 18-year career, and that he had signed up to do community service at the school just two days before his arrest.
Firetog set bail at $1 million, which Razzaq’s family members insured by signing on their salaries and assets, and the judge okayed the package on the condition that Razzaq wear an ankle monitor and stay confined to Brooklyn, except for visits to Cibella’s office in Manhattan and to appointments with a forensic psychiatrist and physician.
Razzaq faces up to 25 years behind bars if convicted, but Cibella says this is just the latest ordeal in a decade-long nightmare for the teen and his family members, who he claimed suffered for years the hands of their father in their “house of horrors.”
“He’s been in prison his entire life, in essence,” said Cibella. “They all have.”
Cibella says Razzaq, who will resume classes at Kingsborough in the fall, has a long road ahead as he continues to fight the charges leveled against him, but the attorney remains hopeful that evidence brought to light over the course of the trial will be in his corner.
“The full story will come out and the right results will be reached,” he said.
