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CNN Live Today

American Taliban Fighter Goes to Trial

Aired May 06, 2002 - 14:19   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: The American Taliban fighter discovered during an Afghan prison uprising has a court date later today. John Walker Lindh is expected at a procedural hearing on how defense lawyers will interview detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

CNN's Bob Franken is at the Federal Courthouse in Alexandria, VA for the very latest. Bob, hello.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Catherine.

It's one of the more perplexing issues the judge here is going to have to resolve as everybody moves toward the August trial of John Walker Lindh. Of course, he is routinely call the American-Taliban.

He was arrested after a prison riot in Mazar-e Sharif and is awaiting trial on ten different charges, the most serious of which is conspiring to murder United States nationals.

And that is where the attorneys for John Walker Lindh want to involve detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They want to interview 13 of the detainees who have been identified as those who might provide evidence that works in favor of John Walker Lindh, evidence they would provide saying that they knew nothing of his taking part in and conspiracies or any violence against the United States military.

Now, the government is saying that there cannot be depositions taken by John Walker Lindh's attorneys, that there are too many security problems. The government is offering instead that there be pre-submitted questions. There might be some sort of video.

Defense attorneys are saying that that would not be enough. That would be a violation of the rights that John Walker Lindh, as an American, has to due process.

Now if you take a look at the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, the new one, it's called Camp Delta, you will see that security is very much in minds of the people who are keeping him down at Guantanamo Bay. It is an area right by the ocean. It is surrounded by a tarpaulin. It amounts to a maximum security prison.

Camp X-ray, which just replaced, was something that was more open. There were significant security problems there.

The defense attorneys are going to argue before the judge today that the security problems not withstanding, they do have a right to confront these witnesses; otherwise, there are constitutional protections their client has which are being violated.

The judge is known to make quick rulings. There is always the possibility of some sort of continuance, a delay in the proceedings today. Always the possibility of some sort of deal. But unless there is that type of deal, we're expecting within a couple of hours a hearing to decide one of the more important questions as this case proceeds -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: All right, thank you. That's CNN's Bob Franken in Virginia. Thanks, Bob.

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