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Grand Jury Returns 10-Count Indictment Against "American Taliban"
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| Lindh made
his statements in Afghanistan under duress. |
WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - John Walker Lindh, the American captured last year while fighting for Taliban and Al-Qaeda forces in Afghanistan, was formally indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury on 10 charges, including conspiring to kill Americans.
"John Walker Lindh chose to train with Al-Qaeda, chose to fight with the Taliban, chose to be led by Osama bin Laden," said Attorney General John Ashcroft. "The reasons for his choices may never be fully known to us, but the fact of these choices is clear.
"Americans who love their country do not dedicate themselves to killing Americans," Ashcroft told a Justice Department news conference called to announce the charges. "The United States is a country that cherishes religious tolerance, political democracy and equality between men and women. By his own account, John Walker Lindh allied himself with terrorists who reject these values."
Attorneys representing the 20-year-old Muslim convert pleaded for his release until trial. Two weeks ago, Lindh's parents told reporters that their son was innocent and loved America.
The federal indictment also accused Lindh of conspiring to provide support to terrorist organizations, including Al-Qaeda, supplying services to the Taliban, and possessing weapons during violent crimes. Lindh could face several life prison terms if convicted.
The indictment said that in May or June 2001, Lindh agreed to attend an al-Qaeda training camp "knowing that America and its citizens were the enemies of bin Laden and al-Qaeda and that a principal purpose of al-Qaeda was to fight and kill Americans."
That summer, Lindh "swore allegiance to jihad [struggle] after being told that Osama bin Laden had sent some 50 people to carry out multiple suicide operations against the United States and Israel," Ashcroft said.
After the deadly September 11 attacks on New York and outside Washington, the indictment said, Lindh remained with his fighting group "despite having been told that Bin Laden had ordered the attacks, that additional terrorist attacks were planned and that additional Al-Qaeda personnel were being sent from training camps to the front lines to protect Bin Laden and defend against an anticipated military response from the United States."
Ashcroft sought to address charges by Lindh's lawyers that his confessions were improperly obtained, and that his civil rights had been violated.
"At each step in this process," he said, "Walker Lindh's rights, including his rights not to incriminate himself and to be represented by counsel, have been carefully, scrupulously honored."
Asked if the government considered asking the grand jury to charge Lindh with treason, U.S. 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."
Earlier Tuesday, February 5, lawyers for Lindh asked that he be released pending trial, contending there was no evidence of criminal wrong doing and no danger that he would flee. A hearing was set for Wednesday on the government's bid to continue holding Lindh without bond.
"There are no allegations and no evidence that he ever so much as fired a shot, even at [U.S.-backed] northern alliance soldiers," Lindh's defense team said in a written motion.
"Mr. Lindh has no criminal record of any kind and absolutely no history of violent or dangerous conduct," the petition said. "The affidavit presented by the government in support of the complaint does not even allege that Mr. Lindh has ever intended or attempted to harm any civilian. … Indeed, officials at the highest level of the U.S. government … have confirmed Mr. Lindh's full cooperation since being taken into custody."
The filing also contended that the government's charges, based on an FBI affidavit, are so weak that they are "insufficient to establish probable cause for the crimes charged." In addition to contending Lindh was no risk to flee, the lawyers also said he had no history of violent or dangerous conduct.
The defense lawyers asked that Lindh be permitted to stay with his father, Frank, and said he would be willing to use electronic monitoring devices to track his movements. The hearing was to be held before U.S. Magistrate W. Curtis Sewell.
U.S. authorities and Northern Alliance allies in Afghanistan apprehended Lindh in early December 2001, after a prison uprising, during which CIA agent Johnny "Mike" Spann was killed. Lindh was brought back to the United States by military aircraft on January 23 and appeared in court the following day, with his parents looking on.
In court papers filed Tuesday, February 5, the defense team said Lindh was a man who never attempted to harm any civilian and contended there was "no evidence that Mr. Lindh made any attempt to engage in combat with United States military forces."
The lawyers said that the entire case against Lindh was based on an FBI interview December 9-10 in Afghanistan without a lawyer present and argued this was "insufficient to establish probable cause for the crimes charged."
Ashcroft has said that Lindh signed a paper waiving his right to an attorney during the FBI interview, but the defense said Lindh agreed to do so under "highly coercive conditions."
The lawyers said Lindh had been held incommunicado for eight days, provided minimal food and medical attention for a gunshot or shrapnel wound and was kept inside a metal container during severely cold weather.
He was held and questioned in Afghanistan for more than 40 days as his parents in California and legal representatives argued that U.S. officials were questioning him without allowing him to consult an attorney. Ashcroft has said that Lindh waived his right to an attorney before questioning.
"The government provides no actual transcript or tape of any such interrogation or even the actual report of the agent conducting the interrogation," Lindh's attorney's argued in court papers. "Despite requests first made on January 24 after the Rule 5 hearing and later memorialized in writing, the government has refused to supply defense counsel with that report or any of the alleged statements by Mr. Lindh."
Lindh's lawyers argued that he made his alleged statements in Afghanistan under duress. Lindh was still recovering from injuries and trying to endure tight handcuffs and extreme cold conditions as he was transferred between facilities in Kandahar. He was repeatedly blindfolded, and the petition said soldiers threatened to torture and kill him. When FBI agents questioned Lindh, he only told them what he thought they wanted to hear.
"When Mr. Lindh asked for a lawyer, he was told that there were no lawyers there," the petition said. "Mr. Lindh believed that the only way to escape the torture of his current circumstance was to do whatever the agent wanted."
Lindh's arraignment is scheduled before U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis on February 11.
Additional reporting by S.M. Khalid, IOL correspondent
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