--- Begin Message ---
Lindh's Bail Was Denied Over "Conspiracy" Emails
Said in 1998(!) US Government Was Committing Acts Of Terrorism Against
Itself, Not Muslims
2/8/02 11:31:56 AM
Associated Press
Alexandria, Virginia -- Prosecutors: Don't Release Lindh
Wed Feb 6, 9:39 AM ET
By LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press Writer
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - Federal prosecutors filed papers Wednesday saying
that
that John Walker Lindh repeatedly expressed "hostility towards his
country,"
and arguing against his release pending trial.
Shortly after Lindh was driven to the U.S. Courthouse here from the city
jail
under heavy security, the Justice Department filed a motion citing a
number of
e-mails written by the 20-year-old U.S.-Taliban figure accused in a
federal
indictment of conspiring to kill Americans.
In the motion, the government cited among other things a Sept. 28, 1998
letter
that Lindh wrote to his mother suggesting that the bombings of U.S.
embassies
in Africa "seemed far more likely to have been carried out by the American
government than by the Muslims."
In its 11-page filing, the government also cited an e-mail that Lindh sent
to
his mother on Feb. 15, 2000, suggesting that she should move to England.
"I
really don't know what your big attachement (sic) to America is all about.
What
has America ever done for anybody?" it said.
In a June 24, 2000 e-mail, the motion asserts, Lindh told members of his
family
that it was the United States which incited the Gulf War and that Saddam
Hussein was "heavily encouraged" by an American official to invade Kuwait.
In a Dec. 3, 2000 e-mail to his mother, the memorandum said, Lindh
referred to
the president (George W. Bush) as "your new president" and adds: "I'm glad
he's
not mine."
Lindh broke off contact with his family in late April 2001.
Lindh, accompanied by helmeted federal marshals, was brought to the
courthouse
around 7 a.m. EST for his appearance before U.S. Magistrate W. Curtis
Sewell.
A short while later, defense attorney James Brosnahan arrived smiling.
Asked
whether Lindh had a chance at bail, he said, "We're going to talk to the
judge
as soon as we get there."
Lindh's parents, Frank Lindh and his ex-wife Marilyn Walker, arrived at
the
courthouse minutes after their son's defense team, and didn't answer a
reporter's question. Frank Lindh looked down as he walked into the
courthouse.
Lindh's lawyers planned to ask the judge to release the 20-year-old in his
father's custody.
Sewell was to determine whether the government could continue to hold the
former Californian, who could face a maximum prison sentence of life plus
30
years if convicted on all counts.
The grand jury indictment issued Tuesday described Lindh's role as a
Taliban
foot soldier in Afghanistan in the harshest terms. It said he conspired
to "kill American citizens around the world" and "swore allegiance to
jihad,"
the Arabic word translated as "resistance," "struggle" or "holy war."
The defense team argued in a written motion Tuesday that the case was too
weak
to continue holding Lindh, because it was based on an inadmissible
interview
with the FBI.
Lindh's attorneys argued their client waived his right to remain silent
under "highly coercive" prison conditions in Afghanistan that left him
blindfolded, tightly handcuffed and stripped naked last December.
Attorney General John Ashcroft countered, at a news conference Tuesday,
that
Lindh's rights not to incriminate himself and to be represented by
counsel "have been carefully, scrupulously honored."
Lindh will be asked to plead guilty or not guilty to the indictment at his
arraignment Monday.
Besides charging Lindh with conspiring to kill Americans, he was accused
of
conspiring to aid the al-Qaida terror network and Afghanistan's former
ruling
Taliban militia; providing real support to those groups; and using and
carrying
firearms during crimes of violence.
Asked whether the government considered putting a charge of treason before
the
grand jury, U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty said, "As far as other charges, we
have
the opportunity or right to have a superseding indictment if the evidence
justifies that."
In his news conference, Ashcroft said: "John Walker Lindh chose to train
with
al-Qaida, chose to fight with the Taliban, chose to be led by Osama bin
Laden.
The reasons for his choices may never be fully known to us, but the fact
of
these choices is clear.
"Americans who love their country do not dedicate themselves to killing
Americans," Ashcroft said.
The indictment said that in May or June last year, Lindh agreed to attend
an al-
Qaida training camp "knowing that America and its citizens were the
enemies of
bin Laden and al-Qaida and that a principal purpose of al-Qaida was to
fight
and kill Americans."
After the Sept. 11 attacks, the indictment said, Lindh remained with his
fighting group "despite having been told that bin Laden had ordered the
attacks, that additional terrorist attacks were planned and that
additional al-
Qaida personnel were being sent ... to the front lines to ... defend
against an
anticipated military response from the United States."
Lindh was apprehended by U.S. authorities and Afghan northern alliance
fighters
in Afghanistan in early December after a prison uprising, during which a
CIA
agent was killed. He was brought back to the United States by military
aircraft
on Jan. 23 and appeared in court the following day, with his parents
looking on.
Libertarian Socialist News
Post Office Box 12244
Silver Spring, MD 20908
http://www.overthrow.com
(check out our messageboards -- discuss this story on-line!)
(Formerly http://www.libertariansocialist.com)
--- End Message ---
