Mujahid
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SARGODHA: Five Americans held in Pakistan on suspicion of using the Internet to contact militants said on Monday they had been tortured as police asked a court to indict them on terrorism charges.
The students, in their 20s and from the US state of Virginia, were detained last month. Police produced them before an anti-terrorism court on Monday after completing their interrogation.
We are being tortured, we are being tortured, several of the men shouted in English from a prison van as it left a court in Sargodha town in eastern Pakistan after their hearing, which took place under tight security.
Jehangir Sarwar, a senior lawyer present in the courtroom, quoted one of the five men as complaining of police excesses.
Sarwar, who was in the court as an observer and was not representing anyone, did not say which of the five men made the remark, while police officials denied that mistreatment was raised during the brief hearing.
None of the five men said anything of the sort in the court. As far as I know, one of these men had a stomach problem, said Aamir Abbas, a local police official who worked on the case.
A police officer involved in the case, Amir Abbas Shirazi, dismissed the accusation.
One of them just complained to the court about a stomach problem and said he needed some medicine, Abbas told reporters.
The five Americans, one of them wrapped in a shawl and another wearing a woolen cap, were brought to the court in handcuffs. Police did not allow reporters into the hearing.
They face lengthy prison terms if found guilty.
Shirazi said police had submitted their interrogation report, including a chargesheet and evidence, and asked the court to indict the suspects under anti-terrorism laws and for violating the penal code.
These clauses relate to involvement in activities of terrorism and subversion in Pakistan or any of its allies, Shirazi said.
The men were arrested in the central city of Sargodha, home to one of Pakistan's biggest air bases, 190 km (120 miles) southeast of the Pakistani capital Islamabad, not long after arriving in Pakistan.
Two of them are of Pakistani ancestry, one of Egyptian, one of Yemeni and one of Eritrean.
Police officials said emails showed the suspects had contacted the Taliban, and that the militant group had planned to use them for attacks in Pakistan.
Police also had told court the five men had been in contact with an al Qaeda operative identified as just Saifullah.
The suspects told the court in their last hearing on Jan. 4 that they had no plans to carry out attacks in Pakistan and they had only wanted to give fellow Muslims in Afghanistan financial and medical aid.
They also denied that they had contacts with al Qaeda or any other militant group, according to their lawyer.
A police investigation report showed pictures of a clip of a suicide attack on a US convoy in Kabul posted on the YouTube website.
Police said one of the suspects, Ahmed Abdullah Minni, regularly visited the site and used to praise such videos.
Shortly after Minni became a registered YouTube user, he was contacted by Saifullah, police said in the report.
The next hearing will be on Feb. 2.
DAWN.COM | Pakistan | Detained Americans complain of torture in Pakistan
The students, in their 20s and from the US state of Virginia, were detained last month. Police produced them before an anti-terrorism court on Monday after completing their interrogation.
We are being tortured, we are being tortured, several of the men shouted in English from a prison van as it left a court in Sargodha town in eastern Pakistan after their hearing, which took place under tight security.
Jehangir Sarwar, a senior lawyer present in the courtroom, quoted one of the five men as complaining of police excesses.
Sarwar, who was in the court as an observer and was not representing anyone, did not say which of the five men made the remark, while police officials denied that mistreatment was raised during the brief hearing.
None of the five men said anything of the sort in the court. As far as I know, one of these men had a stomach problem, said Aamir Abbas, a local police official who worked on the case.
A police officer involved in the case, Amir Abbas Shirazi, dismissed the accusation.
One of them just complained to the court about a stomach problem and said he needed some medicine, Abbas told reporters.
The five Americans, one of them wrapped in a shawl and another wearing a woolen cap, were brought to the court in handcuffs. Police did not allow reporters into the hearing.
They face lengthy prison terms if found guilty.
Shirazi said police had submitted their interrogation report, including a chargesheet and evidence, and asked the court to indict the suspects under anti-terrorism laws and for violating the penal code.
These clauses relate to involvement in activities of terrorism and subversion in Pakistan or any of its allies, Shirazi said.
The men were arrested in the central city of Sargodha, home to one of Pakistan's biggest air bases, 190 km (120 miles) southeast of the Pakistani capital Islamabad, not long after arriving in Pakistan.
Two of them are of Pakistani ancestry, one of Egyptian, one of Yemeni and one of Eritrean.
Police officials said emails showed the suspects had contacted the Taliban, and that the militant group had planned to use them for attacks in Pakistan.
Police also had told court the five men had been in contact with an al Qaeda operative identified as just Saifullah.
The suspects told the court in their last hearing on Jan. 4 that they had no plans to carry out attacks in Pakistan and they had only wanted to give fellow Muslims in Afghanistan financial and medical aid.
They also denied that they had contacts with al Qaeda or any other militant group, according to their lawyer.
A police investigation report showed pictures of a clip of a suicide attack on a US convoy in Kabul posted on the YouTube website.
Police said one of the suspects, Ahmed Abdullah Minni, regularly visited the site and used to praise such videos.
Shortly after Minni became a registered YouTube user, he was contacted by Saifullah, police said in the report.
The next hearing will be on Feb. 2.
DAWN.COM | Pakistan | Detained Americans complain of torture in Pakistan
