Judge bans Afghan confessions
Jerry Markon; 23/7/08
The judge hearing the first US war crimes trial since World War II has banned evidence interrogators obtained from Osama bin Laden’s driver, ruling he was subjected to “highly coercive” conditions in Afghanistan. But Judge Keith Allred left the door open for the prosecution to use statements that Salim Hamdan made at the Guantanamo Bay naval base, despite defence claims that all his statements were tainted by alleged abuse including sleep deprivation and solitary confinement. Judge Allred threw out the statements that Hamdan made after he was captured in Afghanistan in late 2001, including detailed descriptions of bin Laden’s whereabouts. Some of Hamdan’s allegedly incriminating admissions made up a key part of the prosecution’s case against him. But the judge declined to suppress admissions made by Hamdan after he arrived at the US military prison here, ruling that the Fifth Amendment did not apply to Hamdan and that “no coercive techniques influenced” what he said. Judge Allred ruled, however, that to use the admissions, prosecutors must produce Hamdan’s interrogators to explain the conditions under which the questioning took place.
See: http://www.theage.com.au/world/judge-bans-afghan-confessions-20080722-3jc4.html
Tags: Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, Terrorism, USA