Round two for Kabul's trial of year

[seemslikeadream]

By Andrew North
BBC correspondent in Kabul


We were in contact directly by fax and e-mail and phone with Rumsfeld's office


Former US soldier Jonathan K Idema and two other Americans, Edward Caraballo and Brent Bennett, are facing charges including hostage-taking, torture, illegally entering Afghanistan and running a private jail.


But the key question for this next stage is this: Will Mr Idema produce any evidence for the sensational claims he made at the first hearing three weeks ago?

He said then that he was in Afghanistan on a secret anti-terrorist mission approved at the highest levels of the Pentagon - claims the US military denies.

'Slew of evidence'

In this climate, many find it quite possible that the American authorities were secretly employing Jonathan Idema.

Barno: The US military has no relationship with Idema
more
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3556494.stm


U.S. urged to protect Idema's rights
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x752727

[BayouBengal07]

1. That guy

kinda reminded me of Eric Bana in Black Hawk Down at first.

[seemslikeadream]

2. In Kabul, Private Jail Leads to Trial

Americans Accused In Kidnapping of At Least 8 Afghans

By Keith B. Richburg
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, August 16, 2004; Page A12

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Mohammed Sadiq, a religious scholar and Supreme Court judge, thought the bearded men who had come to his Kabul home one morning in late June could only be U.S. soldiers. They carried sidearms and wore military-style clothing affixed with American flags, he recounted. Dark sunglasses covered their eyes. They spoke English as they barked orders to him and to their Afghan interpreters.

What came next for Sadiq were 12 days and 11 nights of torture.


Trial is scheduled today for Jonathan Keith Idema, center, a former Special Forces soldier, on charges of entering Afghanistan illegally and kidnapping eight Afghans. Also charged are Edward Caraballo, left, and Brent Bennett. (Emilio Morenatti -- AP)


He was kept naked and blindfolded in a small hut, forced to urinate and defecate where he sat, he said. His captors doused him with cold water and played deafeningly loud music next to him. Around him, he said, he could hear the screams of other people being tortured.


Some Afghans involved in the case, including Sadiq, contend that Idema is a modern-day bounty hunter, lured here by the reward of as much as $50 million offered by the U.S. government for Osama bin Laden and for other senior al Qaeda leaders. Others call the men misplaced adventurers -- antiterrorist zealots waging their own war against al Qaeda. Sadiq, the former prisoner, noted that his captors never asked him any questions and said simply: "They are criminals."

more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3653-2004Aug15.html

[sattahipdeep]

3. Jonathan K Idema? I am always willing to learn!

http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16570-2001Mar16.html
But Krongard exhibited the requisite secretiveness when asked
to explain his interest in intelligence and how he came to land
a job in Tenet's inner circle. If you go back to the CIA's origins
during World War II in the Office of Strategic Services, he
explained, "the whole OSS was really nothing but Wall Street
bankers and lawyers."

Alex Brown pays $15 million to settle yield-burning case
Largest amount paid by an investment bank so far for a qui tam case
http://www.phillipsandcohen.com/CM/NewsSettlements/PressReleasesandSettlements191.asp


Since the Sept. 11 attacks, Krongard has traveled to Afghanistan, hiding
his facial features behind a beard. After the war in Iraq broke out in
March, he went to Baghdad to see firsthand how events were unfolding.
While inside a palace that belonged to the deposed Saddam Hussein,
Krongard had a snapshot taken of him sitting on a palace throne.

Published: August 1, 2004, Sunday
Mr. Krongard, who is 67 and is known as Buzzy, became the executive director of the
C.I.A. in March 2001. He joined the agency in February 1998 as counselor to its director in
McLean, Va. Previously, he was a chairman and chief executive of Alex.Brown & Sons, the
Baltimore investment banking firm, and a vice chairman of Bankers Trust, which purchased
Alex .Brown.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9800E0D7103DF932A3575BC0A9629C8B63

[seemslikeadream]

4. “Buzzy” Krongard managed firm that handled “PUT” options on United Airline

Suppressed Details of Criminal Insider Trading Lead Directly into the CIA’s Highest Ranks
CIA Executive Director “Buzzy” Krongard managed firm that handled “PUT” options on United Airline Stock
by Michael C. Ruppert

FTW - October 9, 2001 – Although uniformly ignored by the mainstream U.S. media, there is abundant and clear evidence that a number of transactions in financial markets indicated specific (criminal) foreknowledge of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. In the case of at least one of these trades -- which has left a $2.5 million prize unclaimed -- the firm used to place the “put options” on United Airlines stock was, until 1998, managed by the man who is now in the number three Executive Director position at the Central Intelligence Agency.

Until 1997 A.B. “Buzzy” Krongard had been Chairman of the investment bank A.B. Brown. A.B. Brown was acquired by Banker’s Trust in 1997. Krongard then became, as part of the merger, Vice Chairman of Banker’s Trust-AB Brown, one of 20 major U.S. banks named by Senator Carl Levin this year as being connected to money laundering. Krongard’s last position at Banker’s Trust (BT) was to oversee “private client relations.” In this capacity he had direct hands-on relations with some of the wealthiest people in the world in a kind of specialized banking operation that has been identified by the U.S. Senate and other investigators as being closely connected to the laundering of drug money.

Krongard joined the CIA in 1998 as counsel to CIA Director George Tenet. He was promoted to CIA Executive Director by President Bush in March of this year. BT was acquired by Deutsche Bank in 1999. The combined firm is the single largest bank in Europe. And, as we shall see, Deutsche Bank played several key roles in events connected to the September 11 attacks.
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:Bx2MqjJVGxcJ:www.hereinreality.com/insidertrading.html+buzzy++Krongard&hl=en

FTW also revealed that the A.B. Brown (Alex Brown) investment arm of the banking giant Deutschebank/A.B. Brown had been headed until 1998 by the man who is now the Executive Director of the Central Intelligence Agency - A.B. "Buzzy" Krongard. In fact, Krongard is but one name in a long history of CIA interconnections to stock trading and the world's financial markets. We also discussed, in detail, the evidence indicating that the CIA and other intelligence agencies monitor stock trading in real time for the purpose of identifying potential attacks of any nature that might damage the U.S. economy.

The original FTW story is located at:

http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/10_09_01_krongard.html.

Critics of FTW's initial story - not having read any of five related stories dating back to an October 2000 piece on PROMIS software - claimed that we had not made the links to establish culpability. But we knew that the links were there, that our case was solid, and that new evidence would not go undiscovered for long.

Now, investigative reporter Tom Flocco digs deep and strikes pay dirt in a three-part series that reveals not only deeper links between the CIA, Wall Street and the insider trades of 9-11, but also discloses that a key executive at Deutschebank - an American - became, just weeks before the attacks, a convicted felon. His crime: conspiracy to launder drug money to arrange the purchase of U.S. weapons - in association with two Pakistanis who also attempted to acquire nuclear bomb components - for use by Islamic fundamentalist terrorists. - MCR
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:YZ1-wWEZCcoJ:www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/12_06_01_death_profits_pt1.html+buzzy++Krongard&hl=en

NATIONAL PRESS CLUB ONLINE JOURNALISM AWARD
designed to recognize the most significant contributions in journalism by online media.
Best journalism site: First place--James Craven, Timothy Kudalis and Rex Sorgate of Channel4000.com.
Honorable mentions--CNET News.com and Stateline.org.
Distinguished contribution: First place--Gary Scurka, Keith Idema and Viktoria Idema, PBN News.
Honorable mentions--Beth Gorczyca, Tim Johnson and Thom Marsh, The (Huntington, W. Va.) Herald-Dispatch and Robert Lamb, USAToday.com.
http://www.press.org/abouttheclub/record/2000-01record/record-06-28-01.html


sattahipdeep it's early I'm on my first cup of coffee, can you help me out here?

[seemslikeadream]

5. Private jail vigilantes deny torture charges

Along with four Afghans accused of helping them, they made their second court appearance in the Afghan capital today amid chaotic scenes as Idema accused Afghan and US authorities of conspiring against them.

Idema alleged that Afghan intelligence agents had confiscated some 200 videotapes, 500 pages of documents and more than 800 photos and given them to US authorities.

He said these materials were key to the defence, as they gave details of the interrogations of prisoners and proved the defendants were operating with the knowledge of American military and law enforcers.
http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=93956520&p=93957yxx


Private Jail Vigilantes Deny Torture Charges

Presiding Judge Abdul Baset Bakhtyari said Idema had agreed to conduct his own defence and accused him of failing to respond to the charges. “You just want to waste time. You understand perfectly,” he said.
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3352777

[emad]

6. Americans in Afghan Trial Deny Torture

Monday August 16, 2004 2:46 PM
By STEPHEN GRAHAM
Associated Press Writer

SNIP from Guardian:

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Three American counterterrorism vigilantes on trial for allegedly running a private jail in Afghanistan denied charges they tortured prisoners and accused authorities Monday of withholding evidence that would prove they were working with U.S. knowledge.

In the three men's second court appearance, their leader, Jonathan Idema, said U.S. and Afghan officials were conspiring against him and that he could not defend himself properly because he received no translation of the indictment or laws on which he's being charged. ``We don't even know what the law says,'' said Idema.

Idema, Brett Bennett and Edward Caraballo were arrested when Afghan security forces raided their makeshift jail in a house in Kabul on July 5. They face charges including hostage-taking and ``mental and physical torture.'' They face up to 20 years in Afghan jails if convicted. Four Afghans are also accused of helping them.

Presiding Judge Abdul Baset Bakhtyari accused Idema, who is conducting his own defense, of failing to respond to the charges. ``You just want to waste time. You understand perfectly,'' he said.

Idema alleged that Afghan intelligence agents had confiscated some 200 videotapes, 500 pages of documents and more than 800 photos and given them to U.S. authorities. He said these materials were key to the defense, as they gave details of the interrogations of prisoners and proved the defendants were operating with the knowledge of American military and law enforcers.

More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4425369,00.html

Wonder how many more "unofficial" mercenaries Rummy and Dummy have in the Tora Bora scouring the Taleban for the 9/11 masterminds, to pull out of the hat like a rabbit at a magic show just days before Junior waits to get re-elected?

The whole show seems too choreographed to feel real.

[emad]

7. More from the BBC: US 'to release Kabul trial files'

SNIP:

The US is to release potential evidence in the case of three Americans accused of torture and hostage-taking in Afghanistan, a Kabul court has heard. The men's trial was adjourned for a week after one of their lawyers said the FBI would hand over the material.

Earlier, one of the accused, Jonathan Idema, said documents being withheld would prove his innocence and called the trial unfair. He says his mission was approved by the Pentagon, a charge it denies.
The US military says it has no such relationship with him, but has acknowledged that it had contact with the group.

Mr Idema and two other American men, Edward Caraballo and Brent Bennett, are accused of illegally entering Afghanistan and running a private jail. A lawyer acting for Mr Caraballo made the surprise announcement that the FBI was giving access to a large amount of potentially key material that was in its hands just before the trial began.

More:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3568670.stm

[emad]

8. CNN reports:

Vigilante suspects in Afghan court
Monday, August 16, 2004 Posted: 7:19 AM EDT (1119 GMT)

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Three American counterterrorism vigilantes accused of running a private jail in Afghanistan have appeared in court and denied charges that they tortured eight prisoners.

The group's leader, Jonathan Idema, on Monday accused authorities of withholding hundreds of documents and videos which he claimed proved his contacts with the CIA, FBI and the U.S. Department of Defense.

Idema, Brett Bennett and Edward Caraballo were arrested when Afghan security forces raided their makeshift jail in a house in Kabul on July 5. They face charges including hostage-taking and "mental and physical torture."They face up to 20 years in Afghan jails if convicted.

Along with four Afghans accused of helping them, they made their second court appearance in the Afghan capital on Monday amid chaotic scenes as Idema accused Afghan and U.S. authorities of conspiring against them.

More:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/08/16/afghan.prison.ap/index.html


The prison was allegedly being run in this house in Kabul.

[seemslikeadream]

9. Americans on trial in Afghanistan get FBI files

Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Three Americans on trial for allegedly arresting and torturing Afghans won a week to stiffen their defense today, after the FBI turned over documents and pictures from their freelance hunt for terrorists.


The group's leader denied any of the men they detained were abused and insisted the extra evidence would show they had support from U.S. security agencies -- something American authorities deny.

"Even if we were not in the U.S. Army, we were working with the U.S. Army, the FBI and the CIA," Jonathan Idema told Kabul's Primary Court of National Security. "They knew everything we were doing, every single day."

An Afghan co-defendant in the trial also testified that the trio had contact with top Afghan officials, including the defense minister.
more
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/world/2739383


Afghan trial of alleged US vigilantes halted as FBI returns evidence


US citizen Jonathan Idema (L) studies documents at the court in Kabul

Posted: 17 August 2004 0210 hrs

KABUL : The trial of three Americans accused of jailing, kidnapping and torturing prisoners in Afghanistan was dramatically halted after the FBI returned a "substantial" amount of evidence to Afghan authorities.

Judge Abdul Baset Bahktiari adjourned the trial for seven days to allow the Americans and their four Afghan co-accused time to study the evidence, which prosecutors said had been held by the FBI for more than 20 days.


"We received the documents 10 minutes ago," Mohammed Naim Daiwari told the court's afternoon session.

"In front of the judge is the receipt that the FBI signed. Why did the judge allow the FBI to take evidence from the NDS?" Idema said, alleging 500 pages of documents, 200 videotapes and at least 400 photos detailing his links with the agencies had been seized.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/101314/1/.html


FBI accused of concealing link to mercenary jailer in Afghanistan

Declan Walsh and Kitty Logan in Kabul
Tuesday August 17, 2004
The Guardian

They made their second court appearance yesterday, alongside four Afghans who are accused of helping them. The hearing was a confused affair, marred by emotional outbursts from Mr Idema, rebukes from the presiding judge, Abdul Bakhtari, and poor translation.

They made their second court appearance yesterday, alongside four Afghans who are accused of helping them. The hearing was a confused affair, marred by emotional outbursts from Mr Idema, rebukes from the presiding judge, Abdul Bakhtari, and poor translation.
Mr Idema, who wore dark glasses and a combat uniform decorated with US flags, conducted his own defence. Turning to the press gallery, he proclaimed the trial a sham. "This is a political trial, driven by unusual political motives," he called out to the cameras
more
http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,1284,1284663,00.html

[emad]

10. From Al Jazeera:

3 Americans, 4 Afghans on trial in Afghanistan


Idema takes notes as Edward Caraballo, Brent Bennett stand in Kabul courtl, Aug. 16, 2004.
Source: Khaleej Times

Three U.S. citizens and four Afghans went on trail for the second time on Monday in a Kabul court accused of entering Afghanistan illegally, torturing Afghans and running a private jail.

The three U.S. citizens along with the four Afghans allegedly operating with them are thought to have captured and imprisoned at least eight Afghans in a house they rented under the name of a bogus import-export company.

The main charges against the U.S. citizens are entering Afghanistan illegally, torturing innocent Afghans, and running a private jail in capital Kabul.Last month Afghan police raided their centre in Kabul and freed the eight Afghans who were detained by the three Americans, including, Mohammad Seddiq, an Afghan supreme court judge.

Seddiq said that one-day early in the morning he was taken by the three Americans who were dressed with U.S.-style military clothes.He said that for 12 days and nights he was tortured with cold water and was fed very little while in the custody of the suspected vigilantes.
He said that most of the time he was deprived of sleep.Idema, the so-called team leader of the gang, has frequently said that he was in close contact with NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the U.S. authorities, senior officials in Pentagon and some Afghan senior officials.

americans, being prosecuted??? i cant believe that the u.s. would allow that. all you u.s. bashers are stupid. you see we do condem illegal actions even if they are commited by americans. america stands for freedom & equality. although, we do have much more work to do, we acknowledge are draw backs & strive every day to correct them. the world should take notice & learn.
Good Comment (Click to Rate) Captain from America


AND:
Al-Jazeera reader-feedback:

is this the new democracy america is proud of? guantanamo bay stile? americans should face the wrath of the world for the terror spread. america stands for peace and equality? mr. captain must be smoking something, but it aint real tobaco. if you have a lot more work to do than practise at home and leave the world alone. you have the highest ammount of criminals per capita. the world is taking notice and is learning, but not in a positive way.
Standard Comment (Click to Rate) robert from canada




it seems prisons business is booming in central asia, i should have a look to invest in this growing lucrative business and i should start in washington and my 1st candidate will be george war bush.
Standard Comment (Click to Rate) Ibrahim from Canada




what for trial is it? let them free and let them go back to america.the present karzai government should be tried for genocide.the killed 100,s of taliban afgans in cantainer by sticking to death. whole the word knows this.the earth will burn under the foot of karzai.
(Click to Rate) khan h from nederland




any american proud to be part of a system tha mistreats war prisoners should seriously take a step back and take an objective look. do you really like to be represented to the world by a criminal regime like your current goverment? one that encurages it's soldiers to take part in every kind of humiliation possible? this is not war fare anymore. your whole country is being insulted every day bush is in power.
Standard Comment (Click to Rate) robert from canada




look at canada, no problems with muslims overthere. such a big country no crime like in the us. the character of canadians is much better than the av****ge american with the american dream in his head.
(Click to Rate) Samir from Holland

http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=3091

[denverbill]

11. I find it very hard to have any sympathy for these guys.

They may very well be telling the truth. Maybe everything they did was directly authorized by the govt.

However, they were paid mercenaries committing illegal acts on foreign soil against civilians. They probably made hundreds of thousands of dollars doing so.

It serves them right to have trusted this administration to bail their sorry asses out if they ever got caught committing their crimes.

[seemslikeadream]

12. Vigilante Accuses US Embassy in Kabul of Cover-Up

He said he still possessed three documents or e-mails. “I have this document between the Department of Defense and me. It clearly proves the ISAF is lying ... the army is lying when it says we were not working for them, and the Department of Defense is lying when they say they didn’t know we were here.”


more
http://www.aljazeerah.info/News%20archives/2004%20News%20archives/August/17n/Vigilante%20Accuses%20US%20Embassy%20in%20Kabul%20of%20CoverUp.htm