Judge’s Ruling on Interrogation Evidence Could Affect Sept. 11 Trial
A military judge’s evidence ruling yesterday in the case of Osama bin Laden’s former driver could have an impact in the case against the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The judge, Navy Capt. Keith Allred, refused to admit statements of Salim Ahmed Hamdan that were obtained under “highly coercive” conditions while he was held by U.S. forces in Afghanistan, the Los Angeles Times reports.
At the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, Hamdan was reportedly beaten, deprived of sleep and informed by guards that at least one suspect had died after being beaten, according to the Los Angeles Times. Hamdan’s hands and feet were restrained 24 hours a day, he was always alone, and a soldier demanded that Hamdan speak as he put a knee into Hamdan’s back, the New York Times reports.
Allred refused a blanket request to bar Hamdan’s statements in captivity at Guantanamo Bay, however. He rejected a contention by Hamdan’s lawyers that their client had a broad right against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment. Nor was the environment there inherently coercive, the judge said.
If prosecutors seek to use Hamdan’s statements at Guantanamo, Allred said, Hamdan’s interrogators will first have to testify about the conditions of his questioning, the Washington Post reports.
Both the Post and the Los Angeles Times suggest Allred’s ruling could influence the military judge who oversees the trial of accused Sept. 11 plotter Khalid Sheik Mohammed, whose interrogations were even more harsh. One of the techniques used against him was waterboarding, which simulates drowning.
Hamdan entered a not guilty plea yesterday as his trial got under way. Hamdan says he took a job as bin Laden’s driver to earn the $200 monthly salary, and he did not provide material support for terrorist activities.
