FreeRepublic , LLC
PO BOX 9771
FRESNO, CA 93794
STOP BY A BUMP THE FUNDRAISER THREAD
Posted on 06/17/2002 12:01:42 AM PDT by kattracks
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jun 17, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- Lawyers for John Walker Lindh, seeking dismissal of his indictment, argue that the American-born Taliban fighter cannot receive a fair trial anywhere in America - and especially not 10 miles from the Pentagon where 189 people died Sept. 11.
The fairness question was among several constitutional issues raised by Lindh's lawyers in written motions and sharply contested in government responses. Both sides were presenting oral arguments Monday before U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III.
Constitutional arguments are not unusual in major criminal cases, but few involve the rights of a U.S. citizen captured abroad as an enemy combatant.
Originally held by the military, Lindh was transferred to civilian authorities in January and charged with conspiring to murder U.S. nationals and aiding the militant Taliban and al-Qaida. His defense team says he was a soldier fighting against the Northern Alliance faction in Afghanistan who never fought Americans, nor intended to do so.
An earlier defense motion said "a fair trial is not possible" because government officials speculated publicly about potential punishments and called Lindh a traitor.
It said the bias is acute in the Eastern District of Virginia encompassing the Pentagon, "where the tragedy of Sept. 11th carries a special significance in the hearts and minds of residents personally touched by those horrific events."
At a minimum, the trial should be transferred to the Northern District of California. Lindh grew up in Marin County, near San Francisco, Lindh's lawyers said.
The government countered that lawyers for the 21-year-old defendant have their own publicity campaign to portray him as "a gentle, sweet youth, as a devoted practitioner of his (Islamic) faith and a loyal American."
Prosecutors said the defense has tried to "separate Lindh in the public's mind from his al-Qaida associates."
Lindh's defense vigorously denied he was part of Osama bin Laden's network, while the indictment said he personally met with the al-Qaida leader at a military training camp.
The defense also contended that Lindh had "the right to associate with unpopular and disfavored groups" and the only service he provided to the Taliban was himself.
Prosecutors called his First Amendment claims absurd.
"Lindh is not charged with joining a subversive political party, or with circulating incendiary handbills or religious material, or with exhorting an audience in a city park to oppose the government," the prosecutors said.
"Instead, he is charged with undergoing weeks of training from the world's most lethal and accomplished terrorist group (al-Qaida) ... and spending several months as a ... warrior for the Taliban, eventually in opposition to his own country."
The defense team argued that the prosecution of Lindh "violates the well-established international law principle of combat immunity."
According to that principle, soldiers can be prosecuted for war crimes, but not for simply taking part in an armed conflict. The United States asserted the principle when North Vietnam threatened to prosecute U.S. soldiers as war criminals, Lindh's side said.
Prosecutors countered that combat immunity applies only to combatants for a lawful armed force. President Bush determined in February that the Taliban were not a lawful force and their soldiers were not entitled to prisoner of war status under the Geneva Convention.
By LARRY MARGASAK Associated Press Writer
Copyright 2002 Associated Press, All rights reserved
I hope and pray that the government has enough of the goods on this creep, the shoe bomber, the Guantanamo guests, and Jose Padilla ali bin scumbag to overcome any of the legal nicities their fellow traveler American lawyers can raise.
My sentiments, exactly.
It won't work.
Fine. Extradite him -- to Afghanistan. I'm sure they would be able to draw up charges against Johnny. They're very friendly with us now and would be more than happy to give him the fairest trial that Afghani laws and traditions will allow.
It wasn't fair that 3000 people died on 9-11-01, not to mention the property damage. Its not fair that our troops have to endanger themselves seeking out an illusive world wide enenmy. Its not fair the Americas ar at peril any where on earth. We don't want fairness. We want justice.
Do you think "justice" comes in a Cracker-Jack box? Do you want the kind of justice delivered by the outraged Mom who shot the wrong man trying to obtain justice for the abuses done to her children. She was justified in being angry. She was not justified in shooting the wrong person.
"Due process" is not a luxury built into our legal system to aid evil people. It is a necessity for accurately determining guilt while protecting all of us from persecution.
Pitfalls of a civilian trial.
OTH, Acquit him and set him free. A few buddies of Spann's might want a couple of words with him.
If Lindh loses his life because of his stupidity, he won't be the first to do so.
Lindh was with the Taliban when he decided to surrender to the Northern Alliance. While being held against his will in a prison in Afghanistan, Mike Spann was killed by prisoners of war who unjustifiably resumed hostilities.
If there was proof that Lindh resumed hostilities after having received "protection" as a prisoner of war, then he has committed an act which nobody can justify. I find it a wonder that anyone survived after that prison uprising.
The few who survived were huddled in a basement type area, if my knowledge is correct. There may be good reason to believe that those who survived did so because, in fact, they did not resume hostilities, but instead hid themselves.
Please elaborate on how knowing Lindh's "whole record" makes him guilty of a crime or a war-crime. I would hope that a jury would not convict him based on a prosecutor's claim that his "whole record" justifies it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.