John Walker Lindh
John Walker Lindh (born February 9, 1981 in Washington, DC ) is a US citizen and was captured during the invasion of Afghanistan while fighting on the side of the Taliban . When he was captured, he became known as "the American Taliban". Walker took on the name Suleyman al-Faris during his stay in Afghanistan, but has now changed it to Hamza Walker Lindh.
Youth, Conversion and Travel
Walker was born in Washington DC to Marilyn Walker and Frank Lindh. He was baptized a Catholic and grew up in the state of Maryland until he was ten years old. He then moved with his family to San Anselmo , near San Francisco in California . John Walker Lindh was very involved in discussions on the Internet , admitting his love of hip-hop music and sometimes pretending to be African American in Internet chats . At the age of twelve he saw the film Malcolm X by Spike Lee and was deeply impressed by it. From then on, his interest in Islam began .
His parents had been separated since 1993 but officially remained married. He graduated from high school at the age of 16 . His homosexual father moved in with his lover in 1997, whereupon Walker dropped his paternal surname Lindh and took his mother's maiden name, Walker. That year , at the age of 16 , John Walker also converted to Islam and from then on regularly attended services in mosques in Mill Valley and later in San Francisco .
In 1998, he traveled for ten months in Yemen to Arabic to learn and so the Koran to read the original. He returned to the United States in 1999 and stayed with his family for eight months before returning to Yemen in February 2000, from where he traveled to Pakistan to study at a strict madrasa , an Islamic school. There he was probably also radicalized. In spring 2001 he traveled to Afghanistan.
Detention, questioning and confession
Walker was first captured by the Afghan Northern Alliance on November 25, 2001 . He was questioned by CIA man Mike Spann and another US agent in the makeshift prison complex of Qala-i-Jangi near Mazar-e Sharif . On the same day there was a violent uprising in which Spann and hundreds of other people were killed. Walker was hit by a bullet in the right thigh. He and others hid in a basement bunker.
He was found seven days later, on December 2, 2001, when the Northern Alliance diverted an irrigation canal into the prison complex, causing many people to drown. Walker was captured for the second time, along with 80 other fighters - 300 originally. He was taken to the warship USS Peleliu .
On the ship, he signed a confession stating that he was a Taliban and Al Qaeda fighter. Walker's attorney told the press that his client had repeatedly asked for legal assistance after his arrest, but was denied it and that he had waived his right to remain silent only because of coercion. Although the FBI had asked the Department of Justice whether Walker could be questioned without a lawyer and said no, he was questioned.
Legal proceedings
On February 2, 2002, Walker was tried on ten counts in a US federal court. Had Walker been found guilty on all counts, the sentence would have been three life sentences and 90 years in prison . Walker pleaded not guilty on all charges.
One of the central points in the trial was the way Walker's confession had come about. It was revealed that he suffered from food deprivation , lack of water and sleep deprivation while in detention . He had been threatened not to receive medical treatment. It had taken a week to remove a projectile from his thigh and treat the wound . Furthermore, pictures appeared showing him naked and tied up on a stretcher. He was not told that his father in the United States had engaged a lawyer, but suggestive brought home, there [where he was] there was no lawyer . Although he was in poor condition and exposed to massive influence, his claim to forego a lawyer was taken literally.
Walker's confession
The government faced the problem that its main evidence, the confession, might not be recognized because of the circumstances of the detention and when the court made the confession. The head of the Justice Department , Michael Chertoff , denied the accusation in to submit Walker an offer: If profess Walker in two points guilty of the remaining charges were dropped. The two things Walker professed to be doing were serving in the Taliban and carrying weapons. He was also required to undertake not to make any public statements about his case while in custody and to drop all of his allegations of ill-treatment by the US military .
Walker accepted this offer. On July 15, 2002 he pleaded guilty with the following words: “I plead guilty to having served as a soldier with the Taliban from August to December and to having owned a rifle and 2 grenades . I did this knowingly and voluntarily, and I knew it was illegal. ” On October 4, 2002, he was sentenced to 20 years ' imprisonment without parole.
His lawyer said that if Walker was well managed, he could be fired after 17 years.
Discharge
In April 2019, it was announced that he would be released early on parole.
On May 23, Lindh was released for good behavior three years before the end of his actual sentence.
Whistleblower Jesselyn Radack
On the other hand, dealing with Lindh can be viewed as unethical: Jesselyn Radack , at that time in the " Professional Responsibility Advisory Office " (PRAO) - a department which issued recommendations on the ethical basis of official acts and prepared reports - conveyed her assessment to the prosecutor, John DePue, the interrogation of Lindh is not legitimized by current law.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ War on Terror: 20 Years for US Taliban Lindh. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . October 5, 2002, accessed September 3, 2016 .
- ↑ 'American Taliban' John Walker Lindh to be released from prison next month , NBC News . 17th April 2019.
- ^ Matthew Barakat: 'American Taliban' Lindh freed after 17 years in prison . 23 May 2019.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Walker Lindh, John |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Walker Lindh, Hamza |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American citizen who fought on the side of the Taliban |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 9, 1981 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Washington, DC |