A federal judge on Tuesday rejected bids by Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law to both dismiss an indictment charging him with conspiring to kill Americans and also suppress statements the terror suspect claims he was tortured into making from being used as evidence during his upcoming trial.
Manhattan federal Judge Lewis Kaplan found that al Qaeda spokesman Suleiman Abu Ghayth’s Miranda rights were not violated during his interrogation by federal agents aboard a Gulfstream jet on February 28 and March 1 from Jordan to the United States – and the judge even settled a dispute by determining it wasn’t the government’s fault that Abu Ghayth soiled himself during the flight.
“The government has offered consistent and credible testimony that Abu Ghayth was treated well and that he was competent to speak with the FBI throughout the flight,” Kaplan wrote. “Abu Ghayth has offered scant evidence to the contrary.
”The court finds that the government has met its burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that Abu Ghayth acted knowingly and voluntarily when he waived his Miranda rights and spoke at length with the FBI.”
Abu Ghayth lawyers have said their client – who was required to wear blackout goggles and earmuffs during parts of the flight – answered questions “out of a combination of disorientation, fear, isolation, fatigue and sensory deprivation.” The statements should be suppressed because of “physical and psychological coercion and violation of fundamental constitutional and statutory rights,” they said.
Abu Ghayth had alleged he was only given an orange to eat and dirtied his clothes and urinated on his feet because federal agents forced him to use a restroom in darkness – and that he was scolded over making a mess.
Kaplan in his decision said pointed out that a federal agent aboard the flight testified during a September suppression hearing that Abu Ghayth “urinated on the toilet” and that the agent “did not yell or degrade Abu Ghayth after this incident – he merely handed Abu Ghayth some Clorox wipes in order to clean up.”
“No witness testified to having heard yelling at any point during the flight,” Kaplan added.
The judge also shot down Abu Ghayth lawyers’ contention that claustrophobia he allegedly suffered from years of imprisonment in Iran acted up during the flight because the ride was “small, cramped and extremely cold.”
Lawyers for Abu Ghayth, who is set to begin trial in January, could not immediately be reached for comment.