Padilla Alleges Mistreatment, Seeks Dismissal

By TChris, Section Terror Trials
Posted on Thu Nov 02, 2006 at 09:09:19 AM EST
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Courts don't often dismiss prosecutions to sanction outrageous governmental misconduct, but the government's conduct in a criminal case is seldom as outrageous as that alleged by Jose Padilla:

In the court papers, Mr. Padilla asserted among other things that interrogators had threatened him with “imminent execution” or with painful cuts; that he was forced to wear a hood and stand in “stress positions” for long periods; that noxious fumes were sometimes introduced into his cell; that he was forced to endure extreme heat and cold, bright lights or total darkness, denied opportunities to shower for weeks and deprived of sleep; and that he was not provided with a copy of the Koran.

The government must respond to Padilla's dismissal motion by November 13. TalkLeft's coverage of Padilla's case is collected here.

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Padilla Alleges Mistreatment, Seeks Dismissal | 5 comments (5 topical)

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Remember (none / 0) (#1)
by kdog on Thu Nov 02, 2006 at 09:46:57 AM EST

We must not forget that Padilla is a US citizen...if he can be treated in such an unconstitutional manner, in such an unamerican manner...we are all at risk.

The allegations are all heinous except the koran business....that's no big deal to me. If I was in custody and demanded a copy of "High Times" or "Steal This Book", I'd be laughed at. Why should the koran or the bible be given special consideration over any other collection of bound pages?....that I don't understand. Superstition should not come into play in any govt. policy, including treatment of prisoners.

so much.............. (none / 0) (#2)
by cpinva on Thu Nov 02, 2006 at 10:30:36 AM EST

for a speedy trial, the right to confront your accusers, the right to see the evidence against you, etc, etc, etc.

this will not go down in history as "our finest hour".

Yep (none / 0) (#3)
by Wile ECoyote on Thu Nov 02, 2006 at 01:01:05 PM EST

I allege I pay too much in taxes. It's got to be true.

News York Times delayed report (none / 0) (#4)
by Andreas on Thu Nov 02, 2006 at 01:01:48 PM EST

Why did the News York Times need two weeks to report this?

Citing torture, lawyers for Jose Padilla argue case should be dismissed
By Joe Kay, 18 October 2006

: New York Times covering up torture (none / 0) (#5)
by Andreas on Fri Nov 03, 2006 at 02:33:11 AM EST

The NYT not only waited for two weeks but for a whole month.

Is this not a major news story--that the US government is accused (with convincing details) of the systematic torture of one of its own citizens? What is the significance of the fact that the New York Times, the mouthpiece of American liberalism, could not bring itself to discuss these allegations for a month, and when circumstances obviously obliged them to write something about the matter, published a small wire service piece on a back page? ...
The attitude of the Times toward the Padilla case is not an isolated episode. It parallels the refusal of the newspaper to provide serious coverage of the Johns Hopkins University study, which appeared October 11 in the prestigious British medical journal the Lancet, estimating the Iraqi death toll resulting from the US invasion and occupation of the country at 655,000, or 2.5 percent of the population. This figure is far higher than the reported death toll in Sudan's Darfur region, which the US government and the Times routinely characterize as genocide. In the US, such a rate would mean the deaths of 7.5 million people.
Why is the New York Times covering up the torture of Jose Padilla?
By David Walsh, 3 November 2006