A U.S. military jury on Thursday ordered a former al-Qaeda commander to serve 30 years in prison for war crimes committed by his insurgent unit in Afghanistan in the early 2000s. The military judge allowed jurors to leave the courtroom before announcing that the prisoner’s sentence would end in eight years under a plea agreement.
The outcome is part of a secretive system of military commissions that allows prisoners to reach plea deals with senior Pentagon officials who oversee war tribunals but still go through a jury sentencing hearing.
In delivering the maximum sentence, the jury of 11 police officers rejected the defense attorney’s argument that Abdul Hadi Iraqi He deserves leniency, if not clemency, because his Early humiliation in CIA custodyand subsequent cooperation with U.S. investigators Poor health.
The 63-year-old Hardy was aware of the commutation deal, which reduced his sentence from 10 years to 10 years. Pleaded guilty in June 2022It is not clear whether the victims of the attack by Hadi’s forces and their families have been informed. None of the five victims Those who testified last week On Thursday morning, after an emotional two-week sentencing trial, people streamed out of the gallery to comment on their loss.
The prisoner also did not seem to react as the jury foreman, a Marine colonel, announced the harshest possible sentence.Mr. Hadi, disabled by a paralyzing spinal disease and a series of surgeries he underwent in Guantánamo, sat in a padded therapy chair in the courtroom and listened to an Arabic translation through headphones.
His case is a An unusual scene in the courtThe tribunal was established to prosecute cases of terrorist war crimes that occurred after World War II. September 11, 2001 attacksAlthough prosecutors determined that Hadi was a member of al-Qaeda’s inner circle before the attack, there was no suggestion in his plea agreement that he had prior knowledge of the plot.
Instead, he admitted that he was the commander of an insurgent force that illegally used civilian cover to launch attacks in 2003 and 2004 that killed 17 U.S. and coalition soldiers in Afghanistan, such as having a fighter posing as an ordinary driver to drive a taxi loaded with explosives.
He also admitted that he had served as a liaison between al-Qaeda and the Taliban before the 9/11 attacks and provided some personnel assistance. Blowing up a giant Buddha statue March 2001, Bamiyan Valley, Afghanistan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The prisoner, who said his real name was Nashwan al-Tamir, was arrested in Turkey in 2006. Under the law, he was detained by the United States for 15 years and eight months before pleading guilty in 2022, so he is not entitled to compensation. If he is released in June 2032 under the agreement, he will have been held in the United States for more than 25 years.
But Mr Hadi’s future is uncertain. Debated As long as the war on terror continues, a prisoner could be held at Guantánamo even after his sentence is over. Or, under the agreement, the United States could transfer him to a partner country if that country can provide specialized health care and agrees to monitor his activities.
