Bin Laden's driver wants own words banned in trial
By Jane Sutton
GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba, April 29 (Reuters) - Using his own statements to interrogators to try Osama bin Laden's driver would make a mockery of the protection against self-incrimination that the U.S. war crimes trials at Guantanamo Bay are supposed to uphold, defense lawyers say.
The lawyers plan to argue in court on Tuesday that nearly three dozen interrogation statements should be thrown out in the trial of Yemeni prisoner Salim Hamdan at the U.S. naval base in a remote part of Cuba, according to documents.
Hamdan, who faces life in prison if convicted by the U.S. military court of conspiring with al Qaeda and providing material support for terrorism, was captured by anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan in November 2001 and turned over to U.S. custody soon afterward.
He was interrogated at least 30 times by U.S. government agents over 20 months, his lawyers said.
Two interrogations took place on the battlefield in the context of gathering military intelligence.
But the rest were conducted far from the fighting, in Afghanistan and Guantanamo, in the presence of FBI and other agents who were gathering information to be used in criminal charges against Hamdan, they said.
Hamdan said in an affidavit that interrogators beat him if they did not like his answers. His lawyers said no one told him until more than two years later that he was the subject of a criminal investigation that could lead to a life sentence.
The 2006 law that forms the framework for the Guantanamo trials says that no one will be forced to testify against themselves.
But evidence turned over by prosecutors indicates the case will rest heavily on Hamdan's statements, his military defense lawyer, Lt. Cmdr Brian Mizer, wrote in court documents.
"What use is a privilege against self-incrimination at trial if the prosecution can simply coerce incriminating statements during a period of indefinite pretrial custodial detention and then -- while the defendant sits silent at trial -- call to the stand witness after witness who will provide hearsay testimony regarding what Mr. Hamdan allegedly said before he was advised of his right to remain silent?" Mizer said.
The defense wants to suppress everything from Jan. 30, 2002, to the time Hamdan was advised of his right against self-incrimination in January 2004.
He was charged with a crime for the first time on July 13, 2004.
Hamdan said he took a job driving for bin Laden because he needed the money but never joined al Qaeda or had advance knowledge of any attacks. Prosecutors say he was a trusted al Qaeda member who transported weapons for the group and helped bin Laden escape U.S. forces in Afghanistan. (Editing by Michael Christie and John O'Callaghan)
GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba, April 29 (Reuters) - Using his own statements to interrogators to try Osama bin Laden's driver would make a mockery of the protection against self-incrimination that the U.S. war crimes trials at Guantanamo Bay are supposed to uphold, defense lawyers say.
The lawyers plan to argue in court on Tuesday that nearly three dozen interrogation statements should be thrown out in the trial of Yemeni prisoner Salim Hamdan at the U.S. naval base in a remote part of Cuba, according to documents.
Hamdan, who faces life in prison if convicted by the U.S. military court of conspiring with al Qaeda and providing material support for terrorism, was captured by anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan in November 2001 and turned over to U.S. custody soon afterward.
He was interrogated at least 30 times by U.S. government agents over 20 months, his lawyers said.
Two interrogations took place on the battlefield in the context of gathering military intelligence.
But the rest were conducted far from the fighting, in Afghanistan and Guantanamo, in the presence of FBI and other agents who were gathering information to be used in criminal charges against Hamdan, they said.
Hamdan said in an affidavit that interrogators beat him if they did not like his answers. His lawyers said no one told him until more than two years later that he was the subject of a criminal investigation that could lead to a life sentence.
The 2006 law that forms the framework for the Guantanamo trials says that no one will be forced to testify against themselves.
But evidence turned over by prosecutors indicates the case will rest heavily on Hamdan's statements, his military defense lawyer, Lt. Cmdr Brian Mizer, wrote in court documents.
"What use is a privilege against self-incrimination at trial if the prosecution can simply coerce incriminating statements during a period of indefinite pretrial custodial detention and then -- while the defendant sits silent at trial -- call to the stand witness after witness who will provide hearsay testimony regarding what Mr. Hamdan allegedly said before he was advised of his right to remain silent?" Mizer said.
The defense wants to suppress everything from Jan. 30, 2002, to the time Hamdan was advised of his right against self-incrimination in January 2004.
He was charged with a crime for the first time on July 13, 2004.
Hamdan said he took a job driving for bin Laden because he needed the money but never joined al Qaeda or had advance knowledge of any attacks. Prosecutors say he was a trusted al Qaeda member who transported weapons for the group and helped bin Laden escape U.S. forces in Afghanistan. (Editing by Michael Christie and John O'Callaghan)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
Bomb caused Russian train crash