Representational Image.
Richmond, Virginia:
The first Taliban fighter from the Afghan war to be tried in a US federal court declined to testify in his own defence on Thursday as the precedent-setting case wound towards a close.
Defence attorneys for accused Taliban leader Irek Hamidullin and prosecutors both concluded their arguments in the trial in US District Court, which began on July 30.
Hamidullin, a former Soviet tank officer, is charged with coordinating a November 2009 attack on an Afghan Border Police base. He faces 15 counts ranging from supporting terrorists to firearms offences.
The defence's sole witness testified that the relationship between Afghan security forces and the US military was often not good.
US District Court Judge Henry Hudson dismissed a defence motion to throw out the charges, saying there was enough evidence for the jury to make its own decisions.
But Hudson acknowledged the complexity of the case in remarks following his decision. "We're writing on a clean slate," he said.
He said about 60 percent of the issues included in the charges brought against Hamidullin had no precedent in case law. Hamidullin faces life in prison if convicted on all counts.
Those charges were brought through indictments last year by a federal grand jury in Virginia. They include ordering his men to set up a machine gun and a recoilless rifle to bring down US military helicopters.
After the attack failed, prosecutors say Hamidullin opened fire on Afghan and US forces with an AK-47 rifle as they pursued and killed about 30 insurgents involved in the attack in eastern Afghanistan's Khost Province.
Authorities have said that Hamidullin, who is in his mid-50s, was the sole survivor among the insurgents. No American or Afghan military personnel were killed in the attack.
Hamidullin has said he never fired his weapon, although American soldiers testified they saw muzzle flashes from his rifle before he was shot in the hip and one knee.
Hamidullin, who converted to Islam, appeared upbeat as he was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair. He flashed a thumbs up as he took his seat next to his defence team, who are mostly government public defenders, and he smiled as he talked with one of his Russian interpreters.
Attorneys have reached agreement on a vast number of instructions - about 80, according to comments in court - that will govern the jury in its deliberations.
Defence attorneys for accused Taliban leader Irek Hamidullin and prosecutors both concluded their arguments in the trial in US District Court, which began on July 30.
Hamidullin, a former Soviet tank officer, is charged with coordinating a November 2009 attack on an Afghan Border Police base. He faces 15 counts ranging from supporting terrorists to firearms offences.
The defence's sole witness testified that the relationship between Afghan security forces and the US military was often not good.
US District Court Judge Henry Hudson dismissed a defence motion to throw out the charges, saying there was enough evidence for the jury to make its own decisions.
But Hudson acknowledged the complexity of the case in remarks following his decision. "We're writing on a clean slate," he said.
He said about 60 percent of the issues included in the charges brought against Hamidullin had no precedent in case law. Hamidullin faces life in prison if convicted on all counts.
Those charges were brought through indictments last year by a federal grand jury in Virginia. They include ordering his men to set up a machine gun and a recoilless rifle to bring down US military helicopters.
After the attack failed, prosecutors say Hamidullin opened fire on Afghan and US forces with an AK-47 rifle as they pursued and killed about 30 insurgents involved in the attack in eastern Afghanistan's Khost Province.
Authorities have said that Hamidullin, who is in his mid-50s, was the sole survivor among the insurgents. No American or Afghan military personnel were killed in the attack.
Hamidullin has said he never fired his weapon, although American soldiers testified they saw muzzle flashes from his rifle before he was shot in the hip and one knee.
Hamidullin, who converted to Islam, appeared upbeat as he was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair. He flashed a thumbs up as he took his seat next to his defence team, who are mostly government public defenders, and he smiled as he talked with one of his Russian interpreters.
Attorneys have reached agreement on a vast number of instructions - about 80, according to comments in court - that will govern the jury in its deliberations.
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