Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| 'American Taleban' to stay in jail |
|---|
| saadia |
| 02/06/02 at 16:31:02 |
| Asalaam Alaikum, This is from bbc: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1804000/1804604.stm Isn't it scary that they can somehow find your e mails from the past and use them against you?? creeepy, let's remember to make du'aa for this brother.... 'American Taleban' to stay in jail John Walker Lindh, the US citizen who has become known as the "American Taleban", is to remain in custody after a US judge rejected a request for his release on bail. Judge W Curtis Sewell sided with federal prosecutors who maintained that Mr Walker Lindh posed a threat to the public. The judge rejected defence arguments that he was a loyal American, saying "the evidence before the court belies that assumption". Judge Sewell said: "[Mr Walker Lindh] poses a danger to the community. If released, he would probably disappear." The hearing comes a day after US authorities formally indicted Mr Walker Lindh on 10 charges, including conspiring to kill fellow Americans. Mr Walker Lindh's lawyers had argued that he never had anything to do with terrorist activities. After the hearing, one of his lawyers, James Brosnahan, accused US Attorney General John Ashcroft of using "inappropriate" language and taking out his frustrations about terrorism on Mr Walker Lindh. "His language] violated the standards of the Department of Justice, whom several of us have served in the past, and it violated the decorum usually employed by excellent prosecutors across the country," he said. "I would ask the attorney general not to take it out on John Lindh because in my view they have brought up the cannon to shoot the mouse" 'Dangerous' Mr Walker Lindh, accompanied by federal marshals, was driven by motorcade to the courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, at 0700 local time (1400 GMT). Shortly before Mr Walker Lindh arrived at the court, the federal Justice Department filed a motion arguing against his release on bail on the grounds that he had repeatedly expressed "hostility towards his country". In a written request for Mr Walker Lindh's release, defence lawyers said their client had no previous criminal record, no record of drug or alcohol abuse and no history of violent or dangerous conduct. But federal prosecutors said, as a former al-Qaeda and Taleban fighter, Mr Walker Lindh is dangerous and must remain in custody. The prosecution motion filed on Wednesday morning quoted e-mails sent by Mr Walker Lindh, including one to his mother suggesting that the bombing of US embassies in Africa were more likely to have been carried out by the US Government than by Muslims. The 20-year-old Californian Muslim convert faces several life sentences if convicted. Mr Walker Lindh made his first court appearance last month, when the charges were read to him Charges The 10-count indictment, which was handed down by a grand jury in eastern Virginia on Tuesday, formalised the six charges filed against him last month and added four more. Announcing the indictment at the US Justice Department, Attorney General John Ashcroft said it described Mr Walker Lindh as "an al-Qaeda-trained terrorist who conspired with the Taleban to kill his fellow citizens". Asked whether the government would ask the grand jury to charge Mr Walker Lindh with treason, US Attorney Paul J McNulty said: "As far as other charges, we have the opportunity or right to have a superseding indictment if the evidence justifies that." The charge sheet said that from early summer 2001, Mr Walker Lindh went to an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan, joined the fighting against the then opposition Northern Alliance and stayed with Osama Bin Laden's network even though he allegedly knew of their involvement in the 11 September attacks on his country. |
| NS |
Individual posts do not necessarily reflect the views of Jannah.org, Islam, or all Muslims. All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Comments are owned by the poster and may not be used without consent of the author.The rest © Jannah.Org |