Guantanamo detainee captured as a teen boycotts military trial

AN AFGHAN detainee who was captured as a teenager has railed in court against the US military’s tribunal system and said he will boycott his trial, telling the judge: “Don’t bother me anymore.”

Army Col James Sawyers, for Mohammed Jawad, said his client’s outbursts at his arraignment reflect the effects of his imprisonment from a young age at Guantanamo Bay, where he is being prosecuted for allegedly throwing a grenade that wounded two US soldiers in 2002.

“This is a direct result of taking a 16-year-old or 17-year-old boy and putting him in confinement for more than five years, having no contact with the outside world,” said Mr Sawyers.