Cablegate: "Spanish Taliban" Sentenced to Six Years in Prison

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS MADRID 003528

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

EUR/WE FOR ALLEGRONE AND HALL
S/CT FOR MARC NORMAN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PREL SP
SUBJECT: "SPANISH TALIBAN" SENTENCED TO SIX YEARS IN PRISON

1. (U) Spain's High Court sentenced Spanish national Hamed
Abderrahman Ahmed to six years in prison for "membership in a
terrorist organization." Abderrahman, who was transferred to
Spain from the U.S. base at Guantanamo in February 2004, is
known in the press as the "Spanish Taliban" because he is the
only Spanish national known to have been detained in
Afghanistan fighting alongside Taliban forces. The two years
he served under U.S. detention in Guantanamo will not/not
count towards his six-year term.

2. (U) Though Abderrahman spent four months in detention
following his transfer from Guantanamo, Judge Baltasar Garzon
released him on bail in July 2004 after having determined
that information obtained from Adberrahman while he was being
held "illegally" in Guantanamo could not be used against him
in a Spanish court. However, Spanish police continued to
interview and investigate Abderrahman and that information,
together with testimony by witnesses during the
recently-concluded trial of the al-Qa'ida cell led by Imad
Eddin Barakat Yarkas, led the High Court to accept demands by
prosecutors to try Abderrahman for crimes committed in Spain.

3. (U) The High Court unexpectedly ordered Abderrahman's
trial in late September, catching both prosecutors and
defense attorneys off guard. During the one-day trial,
Abderrahman's attorney argued that the evidence against him
had been obtained illegally and could not be admitted into
the trial. However, prosecutor Jesus Santos presented
evidence obtained by Spanish authorities showing that
Abderrahman had sought out al-Qa'ida recruiters and went to
Afghanistan for training and to join a terrorist
organization. The High Court agreed and convicted
Abderrahman to six years in prison (the maximum sentence for
membership in a terrorist group is nine years). The Embassy
has requested a copy of the sentencing document from the
National Prosecutor's office to undertake a closer review of
the evidence against Abderrahman.

4. (SBU) The Embassy is investigating whether Spanish
prosecutors are planning similar action against Lahcen
Ikassrien, the Moroccan national transferred from Guantanamo
to Spanish custody in July 2005 at the request of Spanish
authorities.
AGUIRRE

© Scoop Media