Americans jailed for abuse of prisoners
Two of the men - the alleged ringleader Jonathan Idema and his right-hand man, Brent Bennett - were given ten-year sentences. The third, New York journalist Edward Caraballo, was jailed for eight years. Four Afghan accomplices were also jailed.
Idema, a bearded former soldier and convicted fraudster who attended each hearing in dark sunglasses and khaki fatigues bearing a US flag, denounced the decision as a throwback to the times of the hard-line Taliban movement.
“It’s the same sick Taliban judges, the same sick sense of justice,” Idema said as he was led, handcuffed, out of the Kabul court. “I knew the American government wasn’t going to help me.”
The group was arrested after Afghan security forces raided a house in Kabul and discovered eight Afghans who said they had been tortured as part of the trio’s freelance hunt for terrorists.
Yesterday’s proceedings were the most orderly yet in a trial mired by chaotic procedures, dismal translation and constant outbursts from Idema. Scant evidence was produced and there was little cross-examination.
The Americans had faced up to 20 years in jail on charges of kidnapping, torture, theft and illegal entry into Afghanistan.
In announcing his verdict, Presiding Judge Abdul Baset Bakhtyari did not outline precisely what charges the men were found guilty of.
The defence drew heavily on video footage shot by Caraballo, a journalist who says he was making a documentary on America’s war on terrorism.
Video shown in court shows the group being greeted at Kabul Airport by the airport director and the city police chief - evidence the defence said showed they had official support for their mission.
The three said their entry was arranged personally by Afghanistan’s ambassador to India, a senior member of the Northern Alliance, although they acknowledged not having official visas.
Idema, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, claims to have unearthed a plot to bomb the main US military base north of Kabul and assassinate Afghan leaders. He also claimed to be hot on the trail of Osama bin Laden.
The US military in Afghanistan has admitted receiving a prisoner from Idema and holding him for about two months. NATO forces also cooperated briefly with the three, sending explosives experts to assist in three armed arrest raids in the Afghan capital.
But Idema has since been denounced by the alliance and the American military, and disowned by Afghan leaders and the defence department, where he claims to have high-level contacts.
