dictionary

Lawyers seek U.S. Taliban fighter's release pending trial

An artist's sketch shows John Walker Lindh during his first appearance January 24 in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Attorneys for John Walker Lindh, the American who joined the Taliban in Afghanistan, filed a motion Tuesday arguing for his release pending trial.

"Mr. Lindh has no criminal record of any kind and absolutely no history of violent or dangerous conduct," argues a memorandum filed by Walker Lindh's attorneys in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia.

"The affidavit presented by the government in support of the complaint does not even allege that Mr. Lindh has ever intended or attempted to harm any civilian. Nor is there any evidence that Mr. Lindh is a flight risk."

The issue of whether Walker Lindh, 20, a Californian who left home, converted to Islam and joined the Taliban in Afghanistan, should be given bond will be discussed at a hearing Wednesday.

Prosecutors can be expected to argue he should be held without bond.

CNN.COM SPECIAL REPORT  CNN NewsPass Video  Agencies reportedly got hijack tips in 1998  MORE STORIES Intelligence intercept led to Buffalo suspects Report cites warnings before 9/11  EXTRA INFORMATION Timeline: Who Knew What and When? Interactive: Terror Investigation Terror Warnings System Most wanted terrorists What looks suspicious? In-Depth: America Remembers In-Depth: Terror on Tape In-Depth: How prepared is your city?  RESOURCES On the Scene: Barbara Starr: Al Qaeda hunt expands? On the Scene: Peter Bergen: Getting al Qaeda to talk

Attorneys for Walker Lindh argue he is "entitled to pretrial release unless the government can show by clear and convincing evidence that he is a danger to the community or by a preponderance of evidence that he is a flight risk."

The U.S. military took the defendant into custody after a bloody prison uprising, which began November 25 in northern Afghanistan. During that uprising, CIA operative Mike Spann was killed.

In their filing, the defense attorneys argue Walker Lindh retreated from fighting as soon as U.S. planes began to bomb the area and that "there is no evidence that Mr. Lindh made any attempt to engage in combat with United States military forces, let alone to harm any civilian."

The defense team again attacked statements Walker Lindh gave to the FBI in December while a prisoner in Afghanistan, saying he had been held incommunicado for about eight days before the interviews, with minimal food and medical attention despite being wounded.

In its filing, the defense team alleges that Walker Lindh in the two to three days before the FBI interviews was "kept in a metal shipping container, blindfolded and immobilized by hand and foot shackles and duct tape that bound his naked body to a stretcher."

During this period, his defense team argues, "His repeated requests for a lawyer had been ignored. These highly coercive conditions, together with the government's failure to produce anything other than hearsay accounts of the statements, render the alleged statements highly unreliable."

The defense team calls "the slim weight of the evidence presented by the government" is another reason in favor of Walker Lindh's release.

Walker Lindh is being held at the Alexandria Detention Center in a walled, is 7.5 feet square cell that contains a bed, sink and toilet. He can leave his cell for one hour a day to exercise or use a common area. No inmates are housed on either side of him, Alexandria Sheriff James H. Dunning said.

Walker Lindh is charged with providing material support or resources to terrorist organizations, including al Qaeda; engaging in a conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals abroad; and engaging in transactions with the ousted Taliban regime. If convicted, he could face life imprisonment.

The government may seek additional charges that could carry the death penalty.