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TASK FORCE SABER/7 COMMANDER ADMITTED TO PRACTICE LAW in the Islamic State of Afghanistan

February 27, 2005
Kabul, Afghanistan

There's a new Wakial in town.  Wakial is Dari for "Lawyer,"  and his name is Jack Idema.  Five Supreme Court Judges of the Afghan Court of Appeals, and one sitting judge from the High Supreme Court, including TWO religious judges, have granted Jack Idema a law license for his "extraordinary"  defense of himself and six other individuals, including four Afghans.   The Court was especially moved by Jack Idema's continual efforts to defend his Afghan compatriots above and beyond his own defense or the defense of the other two Americans.  "Mr. Jack has a knowledge of Afghan and Islamic Law unlike that we have ever seen after 23 years of war."

Using Article 96 of the Afghan Interim Code For Courts, the Afghan High Court has admitted Idema to permanently practice law in Afghanistan, including Sharia, and Islamic Law.  "Mr. Jack managed to successfully defend and free all four Afghans arrested with him," said English-speaking Supreme Court Judge Abdul Latif during an interview, "he is certainly the best attorney that I have seen appear yet in the Afghan Appeals Court."  This is the first known time that an Afghan High Court has admitted a foreigner to practice law before all courts in Afghanistan without a formal law degree.

Idema has been admitted to practice law before all four courts including the Primary Court, the Appeals Court, and the Supreme Court. 

Mr. Jack, as the Court calls him, stated that he could not have presented his extensive defense without the constant support and help of New York attorney John Tiffany and family members.  "They have been instrumental in providing us with evidence to fill in gaps where the FBI had destroyed evidence," Jack told a western journalist in early March.

Interestingly enough, the Judge that Task Force Saber/7 arrested and who later claimed he was kidnapped, had his title of Mawlawi stripped from him by the Supreme Court and, unlike Jack, is not admitted to practice law before the Supreme Court.

Mawlawi is a honorific title given to Islamic Scholars and Religious Leaders.  It is one of the highest titles in Afghanistan bringing with it respect, admiration, and power.  To lose the title is considered a disgrace to one's life, and family.

The court privately voiced its displeasure and disdain over learning that now "Mr." Sidiq had meeting with one of the world's top terrorists, Gulbideen Hekmatyar, along with one of Sidiq's brothers, Malikyar, the original terrorist Task Force Saber/7 was hunting.

Hekmatyar is best remembered for his bloody siege on Kabul and killing more than 20,000 civilians, women, and children with Russian Katucha rockets and tank shells.  According to Peter Bergen, one of the world's foremost authorities on terrorists, and author of HOLY WAR, INC based on his meeting with Osama bin Laden, Hekmatyar is an "ultra-Islamic Taliban" who once "slaughtered 36 men under the Command of Ahmad Shah Massoud... in July 1989," and later killed "thousands of civilians in Kabul..." from 1992 onward (quoted from page 76, Holy War, Inc., courtesy of Peter Bergen).

Hamid Karzai, et al:
The Case Against Them

The case against Hamid Karzai appears to be taking a back shelf amid rumors that --THIS STATEMENT WAS CENSORED AT THE REQUEST OF IDEMA'S LAWYERS---.  Controversial General Rashid Dostum has already been appointed as the top advisor to Karzai on defense and is a former member of the US backed Northern Alliance which drove the Taliban and al-Qaida terrorists from power in 2001 and 2002.  In February video appeared in a docu-drama titled 21st Century Soldiers, which aired on the US Military channel.  the show was about Karzai's rise to power and defeat of the Taliban in the south with the help of US Green Berets and "Special Advisors." 

Idema appeared on the steps of the US Embassy in Kabul as it was taken over (see Video), and with the Vice-President in Bamian during the war (see Video), and in Kandahar during the war. Jack also appeared with General Hazrat Ali's troops and capturing al-Qaida terrorists in Tora Bora (see Video).

During the 2001/2002 war President Karzai had personally authorized Jack to conduct a variety of operations during that time.  One of the most visible was Jack's participation in Nahrin Rescue Operation in March/April 2002, when Karzai provided him with a government helicopter and Idema was credited with rescuing hundreds of women and children. Read Articles.

Click Here to Read More about the Geneva Convention and the POW Status Legal Brief Jack and his men filed with the Geneva Convention.

John Edwards Tiffany, Esquire,
is a powerhouse attorney from Bloomfield, NJ that specializes in federal criminal defense cases.  He has represented international criminal and civil clients of notoriety in the US, Haiti, Africa, and other countries.  His father is a former US Marine.  He is very much involved in cases involving National Security interests.  A native New Yorker, he lost friends in on 9/11. 

The Bottom Line:

These guys still need lawyers, lots more lawyers.  There is still the chance that the FBI will attempt to bring some sort of charges against them upon their return to the United States to save face and prevent Idema and his men from giving testimony before closed-door Senate Hearings.  Rumors abound that they are already hunting and tracking more terrorists again, this time from prison. 

On May 30, 2005, Idema and his team notified the Director of National Intelligence, John Negroponte as to the location, phone numbers, and radio frequencies of Most Wanted Terrorist Mullah Omar.  Apparently they no longer need guns to fight terrorists.

The US failed to act fast enough and ignored Idema's information.

Breaking News -
All Men Found Innocent

ANTI-TERRORIST FIGHTERS INNOCENT
STILL NOT RELEASED !!

Last Three MEMBERS OF TASK FORCE SABER/7 FOUND INNOCENT OF ALL CHARGES
BUT THEY REMAIN IN PRISON
 

April 17, 2005 update 9/11
Kabul, Afghanistan

The entire TASK FORCE SABER 7 Team was declared innocent of all charges by the Afghan Second Court, which had granted a trial de novo (a new trial) in November 2004.  Closed hearings took place between December 2004 and March 2005.  All men were originally ordered released by the Appeals Court based on new evidence and the decision was endorsed by the Supreme Court of Afghanistan.

Three American Prisoners of War
Found Innocent of All Charges

Idema, Bennett, and Caraballo were found innocent of all charges and Appeals Court Acting Chief Judge Saheb Noor along with Appeals Court Judges Abdul Latif (011-93-70287222- speaks English) and Chief Religious Judge Mawlawi Azizullah stated on the record during the closed hearing that there had been absolutely no evidence of torture and that the original two bomb suspects that gave statements against the team were in fact terrorists and had committed perjury in the first court hearing in July 2004.  Three men were already released in December after being found innocent and in mid-March 2005 all men were pronounced NOT GUILTY in the controversial case of Jack Idema and six other men alleged to be hunting terrorists, including Osama bin Laden.  The Court and the accused originally agreed to delay announcement for ten days to prepare a press conference and presentation of the evidence.  This was stopped at the orders of Ambassador Khalilzad.

The Court also heard evidence that FBI Agents were complicit in the torture of Idema and his men in NDS custody and confiscated evidence in the trial without jurisdiction or legal grounds.  Amniat Prosecutor Asadullahamri (Phone: 011-93-70060739) formally withdrew all charges and stated that the prosecution no longer had any complaints against any of the men.  US Assistant Consul Bashir Mamoon (011-93-70201923- speaks English) was present when a five panel judge, including one judge from the Supreme Court, pronounced the complete innocence of all men.  However, once again, they remained in prison awaiting US government approval of the release.

Evidence Surfaces That First Trial Conducted by Former Taliban Officials

In what had been a highly publicized trial in the first Court all seven men, who claimed they were operating with full knowledge and support of the Afghan and US Governments, were given prison sentences of up to ten years. There was evidence produced that they had the authority of the National Security Council in Afghanistan and all of the men were Afghan government employees except Caraballo, the embedded journalist. The men’s repeated requests for Geneva Convention Prisoner of War status were ignored by the Afghan and American governments, which alleged they were not part of the coalition, but, in the words of Primary Court Judge Abdul Basset Bakhtyari, “part of the resistance forces.”

Bakhtyari had announced to the international press that the men were guilty before the trial even began. There is now incontestable evidence that Judge Bakhtyari was a former Taliban Judge, that prosecutor Mohammed Nahim Dawari was a former Taliban prosecutor, and that the government appointed interpreter was in fact a former member of the anti-American Soviet backed government. There is no dispute, even by journalists present, that the interpreter consciously intentionally misinterpreted on a regular basis, provided advice to the Judge against the defense, and often refused to interpret Idema’s and the defense attorneys' statements.

On a motion by Idema and the other defendants, the Appeals Court excluded the press from the hearings based on Idema’s assertion that evidence presented would affect the national security interests of both countries, and divulge the identities of covert agents.  No one has divulged what that classified information was, but it resulted in a ruling from the Court that all men were completely innocent and a statement by a five judge panel that all men would be released upon the return of Judge Abed by Order of the Court of Appeals.  They also obtained a consensual advance Order by the Supreme Court which means the government would not be able to appeal the release of all men and their verdict of complete innocence.

However, the case still didn't end in the Afghan Court of Appeals, and the US Department of State insisted that the Court delay their official written decision until former Chief Judge Ismail Abed returned from the United States.  Judge Abed was sent to the United States paid for by the DOS and the US Department of Justice.  Judge Abed has just been revealed to be a cousin or relative of Mohammed Sidiq, the Hezb-i-Islami terrorist which Task Force Saber 7 captured with Mullah Omar and Hekmatyar documents on his person (both Omar and Hekmatyar are on the US Most Wanted Terrorist List).  Abed is also a cousin on anti-Northern Alliance Chief Judge Shinwari.

Idema Lawyer Files Suit requesting The FBI Prosecuted For Destroying Evidence in Case

In December 2004, the Court summoned members of the NDS (Afghan Security Service) to chambers and inquired about additional missing evidence. It was disclosed that agents of the FBI had secretly removed all of the video, photographic, and audio evidence, including the team’s computers which the men would need to defend themselves, without notifying the Court. This was the second time the FBI had interfered with the defense by taking and destroying evidence in the case.

The Appeal Court’s latest decision clearly found that the FBI had taken evidence just six days prior to the December hearing. John Tiffany said that, “without the evidence the defendants would have been unable to mount any defense whatsoever.”  Defense lawyers called this is an intentional interference with justice and the destruction of exculpatory evidence by the FBI which has no jurisdiction in the case.  Meanwhile, Tiffany expressed concerns that the men were still not released even though five appeals court judges found them innocent, and was concerned that the FBI might meet with Abed in America and attempt to stop the release.  In fact, that is exactly what would happen just a few weeks later.

FBI Agents Should Be Arrested and Prosecuted

Attorney John Tiffany has repeatedly demanded that “any FBI agents involved in the taking of evidence in the Idema Case be arrested, criminally charged, and prosecuted for unlawful interference with an ongoing judicial process over which they had absolutely no legal authority or jurisdiction.”

Idema’s Ministry of Defense Interpreter Had Refused to Be Released in December

Lieutenant Wahid Rasuli, who the group refers to as “Zorro,” and is also a Ministry of Defence employee, refused to be released without Idema and the rest of the team.  Lt. Banderas requested the judges allow him to stay in prison with the Jack Idema and the two other Americans until the trials were completed.  Rasuli told the judges, “in this group there is only one thing I have learned above all else, leave no man behind. I request to stay.”  The judges granted his request unanimously.

Idema’s Lawyer Calls Case FBI Sham
Says Press Falsified Reports

Attorney John Tiffany said the entire case has been a sham by the FBI to avoid Idema exposing the Bureau’s own shortcomings in the war against terror.  Both the lawyers and the men of Task Force Saber/7 have all blasted the press for printing false accusations by "un-named and anonymous sources."  New York lawyer John Tiffany said he doubts the press will ever admit their mistakes and false reporting and will instead allege insider deals and cover-ups when Idema is released.

Regardless of what position the international press takes, what the defense maintained from the outset has once again consistently proven to be true at each turn of the proceedings, including this latest decision. 

-For Further Information, Contact
Attorney John Tiffany 973/566-9300.

-For Photos, Contact Kelly Price at
Polaris Images 212/967-5656.

You’ve Been Served!^SM

Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad: SUED
CASE TRANSFERRED TO WASHINGTON, DC

On March 17, 2005, the men remaining in custody filed a habeas corpus action in the  United States Federal Court against Khalilzad alleging that he and others engaged in
1) violations of the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights, 2) Denial of FOIA Requests critical to the defense, 3) Rendering of U.S. citizens 4) conspiracy to torture, 5) abuse of process and obstruction of justice, and other wrongful acts.  The Habeas Corpus 28 U.S.C. §2241 case is reprinted on this site, under the Khalilzad Suit button.  In July 2005 the case was transferred to the US Federal Court in Washington, DC and while the press is refusing to cover it, this is going to a high profile case that sets new law on how far the FBI can go against US citizens in a foreign country.

Journalists and Publications on The Docket and Bound For Court?

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