The US government has for years had secret evidence that could help a young Canadian prisoner defend himself in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunals, a military defense lawyer said on Thursday.
Prosecutors notified prisoner Omar Khadr's military lawyer two days ago of the existence of "potentially exculpatory evidence" from a US government eyewitness to the battle in Afghanistan that had resulted in Khadr's capture in 2002, Navy Lieutenant Commander William Kuebler said.
"It's an eyewitness the government has always known about," Kuebler told reporters after Khadr was arraigned for the third time on charges of killing a US soldier. "This is something that was buried because nobody ever looked."
He said an unidentified US government employee's eyewitness account of the firefight in 2002 could prove Khadr is not an "unlawful enemy combatant," as is required if he is to face trial on the US Navy base. But the lawyer was clearly angry that prosecutors did not tell him about the classified information until Tuesday -- more than five years after Khadr's capture.
"How much other exculpatory evidence is out there behind the black curtain that we can't see?" Kuebler said.
It was unclear when military prosecutors learned about that witness and they declined to speak to reporters at the US naval base in southeastern Cuba.
The evidence is secret and Kuebler would not say which government entity employed the witness.
But he said the evidence could challenge the government's assertion that Khadr is an "unlawful enemy combatant" subject to trial by the special military tribunals the Bush administration set up to try foreign captives held as suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay.
Khadr is the son of an alleged al-Qaeda financier and was 15 when he was captured after a firefight at a suspected al-Qaeda compound in Afghanistan in 2002. He is accused of throwing grenades that killed US Army Sergeant 1st Class Christopher Speer and wounded other coalition soldiers.
Khadr, now 21, appeared in court with a full, short beard and bushy sideburns. He wore a loose white tunic and pants, a uniform signifying he complies with camp rules. Those who misbehave wear orange.
He is charged with murder, attempted murder, conspiring with al-Qaeda, providing material support for terrorism and spying by conducting surveillance of US military convoys in Afghanistan. He faces life in prison if convicted.
PHISHING: The con might appear convincing, as the scam e-mails can coincide with genuine messages from Apple saying you have run out of storage For a while you have been getting messages from Apple saying “your iCloud storage is full.” They say you have exceeded your storage plan, so documents are no longer being backed up, and photos you take are not being uploaded. You have been resisting Apple’s efforts to get you to pay a minimum of ￡0.99 (US$1.33) a month for more storage, but it seems that you cannot keep putting off the inevitable: You have received an e-mail which says your iCloud account has been blocked, and your photos and videos would be deleted very soon. To keep them you need
The Israeli military has demolished entire villages as part of its invasion of south Lebanon, rigging homes with explosives and razing them to the ground in massive remote detonations. The Guardian reviewed three videos posted by the Israeli military and on social media, which showed Israel carrying out mass detonations in the villages of Taybeh, Naqoura and Deir Seryan along the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanese media has reported more mass detonations in other border villages, but satellite imagery was not readily available to verify these claims. The demolitions came after Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz called for the destruction of
A US YouTuber who caused outrage for filming himself kissing a statue commemorating Korean wartime sex slaves has been sentenced to six months in prison, a court in Seoul said yesterday. Johnny Somali, 25, gained notoriety several years ago for recording himself doing a series of provocative stunts in South Korea and Japan, and streaming them on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch. South Korean authorities indicted Somali — whose real name is Ramsey Khalid Ismael — in 2024 on public order violations and obstruction of business, and banned him from leaving the country. “The court has sentenced him to six months in
The death toll from a shooting in western Afghanistan rose to 11 on Saturday, after gunmen targeted civilians at a picnic spot in Herat, the provincial authority said. Bullet marks were visible on a wall of the Sayed Mohammad Agha Shia shrine, while bloodstains marked a blanket abandoned at the scene. “Eleven people have been recorded dead and eight others wounded from Friday’s incident, with the condition of two of the wounded reported as critical,” Herat’s information office said in a statement. The update raises a toll of seven killed provided on Friday by the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs
RSS