Assalamu'alaikum wr wb,
John Phillip Walker Lindh adalah pemuda AS yang masuk Islam pada umur 16 tahun
dan tertangkap tentara AS ketika berjihad bersama Taliban melawan pasukan AS.
Seorang mualaf dari AS berjihad membela ummat Islam nun jauh dari kampungnya.
Wassalam
John Phillip Walker Lindh (born February 9, 1981) is an American who was
captured during the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan while fighting there for the
Taliban. His capture made worldwide headlines.
Lindh prefers to go by the name Hamza Walker Lindh today, although during his
time in Afghanistan, he went by Sulayman al-Faris[1].
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Youth, conversion and travels
* 2 Capture and interrogation
* 3 Trial
* 4 Imprisonment
* 5 Allegations of homosexuality
* 6 Media references
* 7 See also
* 8 References
* 9 External links
[edit] Youth, conversion and travels
Lindh was born in Washington, D.C., to parents Marilyn Walker and Frank Lindh.
He was baptized and raised Roman Catholic, and grew up in Silver Spring,
Maryland. When he was 10 years old, his family moved to San Anselmo,
California. Lindh suffered from an intestinal disorder as a child. After
briefly attending several middle schools his family opted to homeschool him
starting in 1993, when he was 12.[citation needed]
As an adolescent, Lindh participated in IRC chat rooms. He became a devoted fan
of hip-hop music, and engaged in extensive discussions on Usenet newsgroups,
sometimes pretending to be African American.[2] The Spike Lee film Malcolm X
impressed him deeply and sparked his interest in Islam.
At age 14 Lindh's health improved and he enrolled at Redwood High School as a
freshman. After five months he left the school for an independent study
program, eventually earning a GED at age 16.
Although his parents did not officially divorce until 1999, their marriage was
in serious trouble throughout Walker's adolescence. Frank Lindh stated that
they had been effectively separated since 1993.
In 1997, John Lindh officially converted to Islam and began regularly attending
mosques in Mill Valley and later San Francisco[3]. In 1998, he traveled to
Yemen for about 10 months, to learn Arabic so that he would be able to read the
Qur'an in its original language. He returned to the United States in 1999,
living with his family for about eight months before returning to Yemen in
February 2000, whence he left for Pakistan to study at a madrassa.
[edit] Capture and interrogation
John Walker Lindh In US Custody.
John Walker Lindh In US Custody.
Lindh was captured on November 25, 2001, by Afghan Northern Alliance forces,
and questioned by Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer Mike Spann and
another officer at General Dostum's military garrison named Qali Jangi near
Mazari Sharif. As shown on British Channel 4 news, Spann asks Lindh "are you a
member of the IRA?" and hit Lindh's head. As newsfilm showed, Lindh's elbows
were fastened behind his back at the time. Later that day, the makeshift prison
was the scene of a violent uprising, in which Spann was killed along with
hundreds of foreign fighters. However, Spann's companion, another man in US
military uniform without a name tape, just like Spann, was filmed speaking on a
satphone complaining that a US air strike on the scene had probably cost some
American lives. The air strike injured five US Marines who were a few yards
from the Lindh interrogation scene.
Robin Moore alleges in his book The Hunt for Bin Laden that Lindh was
affiliated with Al Qaeda. Moore also wrote that it was "commonly believed" that
Lindh was not only present during the killing of Michael Spann, but that he
"most likely" participated in the affair that "may" have lasted as long as 12
hours. However, Jonathan Idema, who actually wrote most of Moore's book on his
behalf, was later discredited. Moore himself eventually disavowed The Hunt for
Bin Laden and the book remains out of print.[4]
After the initial uprising Lindh found refuge in a basement bunker after taking
a bullet in the right upper thigh, hiding with a group of Saudi, Uzbek, and
Pakistanis. He was found seven days later on December 2, 2001, when Northern
Alliance forces diverted an irrigation stream, drowning many, and eventually
flushing out Lindh and about 80 survivors from the original 300. The Northern
Alliance captors then pinned Lindh's elbows behind his back.
Lindh initially gave his name as "Abd-al-Hamid" but later gave his birth name
when interviewed by Robert Young Pelton for CNN. Pelton brought a medic and
food for the American and interviewed Lindh about how he got there. Lindh said
that the prison uprising was sparked by some of the prisoners smuggling
grenades into the basement, "This is against what we had agreed upon [with the
Northern Alliance], and this is against Islam. It is a major sin to break a
contract, especially in military situations,". [5]
Upon capture, Lindh was given basic first aid and then questioned for a week at
Mazari Sharif, before taking him to Camp Rhino on December 7, 2001, the bullet
still within his thigh. [6][7] When Lindh arrived at Camp Rhino he was stripped
and he was restrained to a stretcher, blindfolded and placed in a metal
shipping container. While bound to the stretcher his picture was taken by
American military personnel.[8] While at Camp Rhino he was heavily medicated.
He was later to complain that as military personnel passed the echoing cargo
container around each 24 hour cycle, they hammered on its metal sides and
shouted abuse and threats. He remained in severe pain from the bullet that
remained in his leg. The photograph of him naked was cropped so as not to show
his leg wound. On at least one occasion he was interrogated while naked,
drugged and with the bullet still in his leg. On December 8 and 9t he was
interviewed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI)[7]. He was held at Camp Rhino until he was transferred to USS Peleliu on
December 14, 2001[9].
He was interrogated before the operation on December 14. While on the Peleliu,
he signed confession documents while he was held by the United States Marine
Corps and informed his interrogators that he was not merely Taliban but
al-Qaeda, though his father later asserted he was not involved in, and unaware
of, al-Qaeda. On December 31, 2001, he was transferred to the USS Bataan, where
he was held till January 22, 2002, when he was flown off the Bataan to begin
the journey back to the United States to face criminal charges. While on the
USS Bataan, Attorney General John Ashcroft, on January 16, 2002, announced that
Lindh would be tried in the United States.
His attorney claimed to the press that he asked for a lawyer repeatedly before
being interviewed but he did not get one, and that "highly coercive" prison
conditions forced Lindh to waive his right to remain silent. Although the FBI
asked Jesselyn Radack, a Justice Department ethics advisor, whether Lindh could
be questioned without a lawyer present, her advice that this should not be done
was not followed.[10]
[edit] Trial
On February 5, 2002, Lindh was indicted by a federal grand jury on ten
charges:[11]
* Conspiracy to murder U.S. citizens or U.S. nationals
* Two counts of conspiracy to provide material support and resources to
designated foreign terrorist organizations
* Two counts of providing material support and resources to terrorist
organizations
* One count of supplying services to the Taliban.
* Conspiracy to contribute services to Al Qaeda
* Contributing services to Al Qaeda
* Conspiracy to supply services to the Taliban
* Using and carrying firearms and destructive devices during crimes of
violence
If convicted of these charges, Lindh could have received up to three life
sentences and 90 additional years in prison. On February 13, 2002, he pleaded
not guilty to all 10 charges.[11]
A photo (see this page) emerged from his captivity of him being held naked and
bound, wearing a blindfold.[12] When details of the conditions of his captivity
began to emerge, it was discovered that he had initially been wounded and
hidden for a week with limited food, water, and minimal sleep before being
captured. After being captured and taken to a room with a single, sealed-off
window, Lindh reportedly had his clothes cut off him and was duct-taped to a
stretcher and placed in a metal shipping container for transportation. Lindh
was reportedly not allowed release from the stretcher when he needed to
urinate. While being interrogated, Lindh was allegedly denied access to a
lawyer, despite several alleged requests, and was threatened with denial of
medical aid if he did not cooperate. Lindh was held for over a week in U.S.
custody before his wound was treated and the bullet removed.[13]
The court scheduled an evidence suppression hearing, at which Lindh would have
been able to testify about the details of the torture to which he claimed he
was subjected. The government faced the problem that a key piece of evidence —
Lindh's confession — might be excluded from evidence as having been forced
under duress.
To forestall this possibility, Michael Chertoff, then-head of the criminal
division of the U.S. Department of Justice, directed the prosecutors to offer
Lindh a plea bargain, to wit, Lindh would plead guilty to two charges: —
serving in the Taliban army and carrying weapons. He would also have to consent
to a gag order that would prevent him from making any public statements on the
matter for the duration of his 20-year sentence, and he would have to drop any
claims that he had been mistreated or tortured by U.S. military personnel in
Afghanistan and aboard two military ships during December 2001 and January
2002. In return, all other charges would be dropped.
Lindh accepted this offer. On July 15, 2002, he entered his plea of guilty to
the two remaining charges. The judge asked Lindh to say, in his own words, what
he was admitting to. Lindh's allocution went as follows: "I plead guilty", he
said. "I provided my services as a soldier to the Taliban last year from about
August to December. In the course of doing so, I carried a rifle and two
grenades. I did so knowingly and willingly knowing that it was illegal." On
October 4, 2002, Judge T.S. Ellis, III formally imposed the sentence: 20 years
without parole.[14]
As another result of Lindh's plea bargain, a Son of Sam law was invoked. Any
and all profits made from book deals or any movies about Lindh's experience
will be automatically handed over to the federal government. Lindh, his family,
his relatives, his associates and his friends will be unable to profit
financially from his crimes and/or experiences.
Lindh's attorney, James Brosnahan, said Lindh would be eligible for release in
17 years, with good behavior. This is because, although there is no parole
under federal law, his sentence could be reduced by 15 percent, or three years,
for good behavior. In addition, Lindh agreed to cooperate "fully, truthfully
and completely" with both military intelligence and law enforcement agencies in
the terrorism investigation.[14]
[edit] Imprisonment
In January 2003, Lindh was sent to a medium-security prison in Victorville,
northeast of Los Angeles. On March 3, 2003, Lindh was tackled by inmate Richard
Dale Morrison, who hit him while screaming obscenities before running away.
Lindh suffered a bruised forehead. On July 2, 2003, Morrison was charged with a
misdemeanor count of assault.
Lindh was held at ADMAX in Florence, Colorado, the federal Supermax facility
for a short time but he's currently serving his sentence at the Federal
Correctional Institution, Terre Haute at Terre Haute, Indiana.[15] In April
2007, citing the reduced sentence for the Australian prisoner David Hicks,
Lindh's attorneys made a public plea for a Presidential commutation to lower
his twenty year sentence.
[edit] Allegations of homosexuality
In October 2002, both Time[16] and The Guardian[17] reported that Khizar Hayat,
the Pakistani businessman who paid for Lindh to attend the madrassa, apparently
claimed to have had a homosexual relationship with him. Lindh's attorneys
denied the allegation. Hayat himself relayed the story of his relationship to
the media, but after the reports were publicized he then denied any sexual
relationship as "nonsense" to CNN.[18]
An implication of a sexual relationship was incorrectly made in the article,
based on Hayat's broken English, rather than a direct quote about having sex.
The passage in the original article confirmed that Hayat had a good, though not
colloquial, command of the English language. OpinionJournal asserted that the
nature of Time's reporting, on this particular matter, was wrong.[19]
[edit] Media references
* In 2002, President George H. W. Bush referred to Lindh as "some misguided
Marin County hot-tubber". The comment provoked a minor furor and prompted a
retraction of the statement by Bush.[20]
* Steve Earle recorded a song about Lindh entitled "John Walker's Blues".
It was released on his 2002 album Jerusalem.
* Hot Buttered Rum String Band, several of whose members hail from Marin,
released a song about the Lindh's trial, "The Trial of John Walker Lindh," on
their 2002 album Live at the Freight and Salvage.
* Alternative hip-hop group/label anticon. appeared on a DJ Krush song
about Lindh named "Song for John Walker", released on Krush's 2003 album The
Message at the Depth.
* Lindh was the subject of a musical, John Walker: The Musical, in the 2004
New York International Fringe Festival and was covered in The New York Times,
[21] New York Post and CNN.
* An episode of Law & Order was based on Lindh's story. The main character
was a young man from a middle-class background who converted to militant Islam.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Walker_Lindh
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