Al Qaeda suspect in Yemen claims was tortured
(AFP)
30 May 2005
SANAA - The suspected ringleader of an Al Qaeda cell on trial in Yemen for allegedly plotting attacks on Western targets in Gulf states on Monday retracted past confessions which he said were obtained by torture.
His claims came as the trial reconvened of the eight suspected Al Qaeda militants, accused of being members of an organisation named Katab al-Tawhid and also charged with seeking to assassinate senior Yemeni officials.
“I was forced under pressure and torture by political security (intelligence) to confess statements that were presented in previous hearings,” 22-year-old Iraqi defendant Anwar al-Jilani told the court.
But his request to be interrogated again was rejected by the court.
State prosecutors presented evidence against the defendants that included explosives, as well as grenades, an automatic rifle, a personal computer and a camera.
But Jilani, and the other suspects, including two Syrians, rejected the evidence.
“I have nothing to do with all documents extracted from my personal computer as evidence,” Jilani said.
The representative of the state prosecution had claimed in the previous hearing that the allegations were based on documents found in the personal computer of Jilani.
The other suspects are Mohammad Abdelwahhab Bakri, a 24-year-old Syrian, and his brother Ahmad, 22, as well as five Yemenis: Khaled al-Batati, 23, Salah Othman, 33, Omran al-Faqih, 31, Abderrahman Basira, 25, and Majed Mizan, 21.
The trial, which opened March 28, was adjourned until June 6.
