A federal judge in Manhattan declined on Monday to dismiss charges against a man accused in a terrorism case whose lawyers claimed his rights were violated when he was tortured in secret jails run by the Central Intelligence Agency.The defendant, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, has been charged with conspiring in the 1998 bombings of two American embassies in East Africa. The attacks, which were carried out by Al Qaeda, killed 224 people. Mr. Ghailani later worked as a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden, the authorities have said.
After Mr. Ghailani was captured in 2004, he was held in the C.I.A.’s so-called black sites until 2006, when he was transferred to the naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Last year, he became the first Guantánamo detainee moved into the civilian court system for trial.Although details of his treatment while in C.I.A. custody are classified, he has said in court papers that he was subjected to cruel “enhanced interrogation techniques.” His lawyers say that his treatment was unquestionably “torture,” and argued that the techniques were so “shocking to our traditional sense of justice” that charges should be dismissed on grounds of “outrageous governmental conduct.”“Indeed, while it is rare to find a case that is ‘so outrageous’ to warrant the ultimate sanction of dismissal,” his lawyers wrote, “if this is not such a case, then what is?”
But the judge, Lewis A. Kaplan of Federal District Court, ruled that Mr. Ghailani’s treatment while he was being detained had no relation to his court case.
“Even if Ghailani was mistreated while in C.I.A. custody and even if that mistreatment violated the due process clause,” the judge wrote, “there would be no connection between such mistreatment and this prosecution.”Judge Kaplan added that prosecutors should not be deprived of the opportunity to prove Mr. Ghailani’s guilt through the use of evidence “wholly untainted” by government misconduct.
“Any remedy for any such violation must be found outside the confines of this criminal case,” the judge said. The judge made no finding on whether Mr. Ghailani was tortured or otherwise mistreated.
In opposing dismissal of the charges, federal prosecutors have said there are more appropriate remedies to redress “the alleged government misconduct.”“Neither the manner by which a defendant is brought to court for prosecution nor the conditions of his confinement prior to that prosecution are valid grounds for dismissal of an indictment,” the United States attorney’s office wrote. Prosecutors have already said they will not use at trial statements Mr. Ghailani made while he was in detention.
The Ghailani prosecution has been seen as significant because it has raised issues that could resurface if the government ultimately brings Khalid Shaikh Mohammed or other high-profile detainees to trial in civilian court.
The judge has not yet ruled on a motion by Mr. Ghailani’s lawyers seeking dismissal of charges on grounds that his detention violated his speedy-trial rights. Mr. Ghailani has pleaded not guilty.Lawyers for Mr. Ghailani and a spokeswoman for the government declined to comment. Who Am I?
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