Jihad training manual instructs terrorists to "claim" torture on going to
trial.
"19. The brother should deny all information [accusations] about
him by the prosecution representative. He should
claim that the interrogation apparatus has
fabricated those accusations and should deny his
connection to anything obtained against him.
20. ...Once in the prosecution center, however, he should say that he
was tortured, deny all his prior confessions, and
ask that the interrogation be repeated."
Bruce
Alleged militants accuse police of torture Qaeda 'lions' go on trial
[From: Kuwait Times 25 May 2005]
KUWAIT: The trial of 37 Islamic militants suspected of links to
Al-Qaeda and deadly clashes with police in January opened yesterday,
with the prosecution demanding the death penalty for 20 of the
suspects. Amid tight security, the hearing began at 2:00 pm (1100 GMT)
in the presence of the media and a number of relatives. Eleven of the
suspects were being tried in absentia. Twenty-five defendants are
Kuwaitis, seven are bedoon or stateless Arabs, two Jordanians and one
each from Saudi Arabia, Australia and Somalia, the lawyers said.
After a four-hour hearing, presiding judge Hani Al-Hamdan adjourned the
trial until June 11. Seven defendants who appeared in court yesterday
pleaded innocent to terror-related charges, with each of the men
taking off his shirt to display bare torsos with scars and bruises
clearly visible. The men said they had been repeatedly beaten and
lashed, and accused Kuwait's state security agents of torturing them
to extract confessions. They wore prison uniforms, with heads shaven
and long unkempt beards marking them as conservative Muslims.
They were kept in the court's iron cage under the watch of members of the
special forces, many of whom wore masks. Heavy security was also
placed outside the sprawling Justice Palace building in the capital
Kuwait City. Two other suspects who were freed on bail were also
present in the courtroom along with Nuha Al-Enezi, wife of the alleged
ringleader, Amer Khlaif Al-Enezi, the only woman involved in the case.
She was sitting in a wheelchair wearing a black abaya and accompanied
by a nurse. Newspaper reports declared she is ill with cancer. Her
lawyer appealed to the judge to release her on bail in order to be
able to travel abroad for treatment. The judge read the charges to
each of the suspects, all of whom pleaded not guilty on the grounds
that their supposed confessions had been obtained under torture.
The charges against 21 of those present in court included joining an
illegal extremist group named the "Peninsula Lions Brigade" reportedly
linked with the Saudi Al-Haramain Brigades and Osama bin Laden's
Al-Qaeda network. They were also charged with carrying out terrorist
acts, participating in the killing of several policemen and plotting
to attack US forces and citizens in the state. Under Kuwaiti law, such
charges carry the death penalty. Several of the suspects were also
charged with possessing unlicensed firearms and explosives and illegal
training in combat skills.
The Australian suspect, businessman Talal Qadri, said he was beaten up and
tortured in detention and demanded to
see embassy officials. Some 20 lawyers representing the suspects
strongly protested at the court proceedings, saying they had not been
allowed to see their clients or attend their interrogation. Three of
the lawyers walked out of court to protest the judge's refusal to
allow them to see their clients before the hearing commenced. Other
lawyers argued that investigations carried out by the public
prosecutor's office were illegal and violated Kuwaiti law.
No charges were read out against the 11 suspects who are being tried in
absentia
nor against the two suspects who stayed in their cells. Most of the
suspects are accused of fighting four deadly gun battles with Kuwaiti
security forces in January that left four police officers dead and 10
others wounded. Eight militants were killed in the gunfights, while
the alleged leader of the group, Al-Enezi, died in police detention
eight days after his arrest on January 31.
The list of defendants includes fiery Sunni Muslim cleric Sheikh Hamed
Al-Ali, charged with
issuing fatwas, or religious edicts, for the group. He has denied the
charge. It also includes Khaled Al-Dosari and Mohsen Al-Fadhli who
remain at large. Dosari is the spokesman for the Society Against
Arbitrary Detention and Torture, while Fadhli was in February added to
the UN list of terror financiers. Also included is Osama Al-Munawer, a
Kuwaiti lawyer who represents Islamists. He is suspected of concealing
Dosari's whereabouts.
The prosecution charges most of the suspects of
joining an illegal extremist group that was plotting armed
confrontations with state authorities and to attack government
interests. They are also charged of murdering several police officers
during gun battles with security forces. Local media reported in
February that some of the suspects had admitted that the group was
plotting to send members to Iraq to fight against US forces and to
kidnap Western soldiers and citizens in Kuwait.
A large number of the suspects were arrested during the clashes with police
in January last
year, while the rest were arrested later based on confessions obtained
by police. Police seized large quantities of explosives, grenades and
machine-guns after the clashes. A Kuwaiti court on May 8 sentenced an
Islamist suspect for eight years and 19 others to three-year jail
terms on charges of recruiting anti-US fighters for Iraq. They were
accused of involvement in "aggressive actions against a friendly
nation, raising funds for Islamist militants engaged in fighting
against US forces in Iraq and possessing illegal weapons". Another
three defendants were fined the equivalent of $10,000 and a fourth
about $3,400 in connection with the case. - Agencies
http://www.kuwaittimes.net/today/home_main_st.php
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