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01/14/2006:

"Padilla Pleads Not Guilty and Is Ordered Held Without Bail"

01/12/06 "New York Times" -- -- MIAMI, Jan. 12 - Jose Padilla, who was transferred from military to civilian custody last week, was ordered held without bail by a federal judge after he pleaded not guilty to criminal charges that he provided money and support to terrorism forces overseas.

"He pleads absolutely not guilty to the charges contained in the indictment," Mr. Padilla's lawyer, Michael Caruso, said before Magistrate Judge Barry Garber of the Federal District Court in Miami.

Mr. Padilla, 35, was indicted in November by a federal grand jury in Miami on charges he provided "material support" to terrorists. The indictment states that Mr. Padilla and four co-conspirators were part of a North American cell that sent money and recruits overseas to participate in violent jihad.

At the hearing attended by Mr. Padilla's mother, stepfather and brother, Prosecutor Stephanie Pell discussed Mr. Padilla's suspected involvement with terrorist cells over the years, saying that he had traveled to Afghanistan to attend a terrorist training camp. Ms. Pell argued Mr. Padilla is a flight risk and listed past legal problems in requesting denial of bail.

"The defendant, we believe, has numerous contacts overseas," Ms. Pell told the judge. "He is also a danger to the community. He has a history of violent crimes."

Mr. Caruso called the possibility of holding Mr. Padilla in pretrial detention "especially brutal" after he had been in a military brig without charges as an enemy combatant for over three years.

"His confinement went far beyond what any other American citizen has ever had to endure without charges being filed against them," Mr. Caruso told the judge. "There is simply no evidence proffered by the government today or contained in the indictment that Jose Padilla has ever, ever engaged in any violent act towards anyone in this country or towards anyone in any other country," Mr. Caruso said.
informationclearinghouse.info

We found Padilla's al Qaeda application, U.S. says
After the U.S. military invaded Afghanistan to oust its Taliban rulers, authorities found a locker full of applications to join al Qaeda's holy war overseas.

Among the alleged applicants: José Padilla, the former ''enemy combatant'' who once lived in Broward County.

A prosecutor produced the alleged document for the first time Thursday in Miami federal court, where Padilla pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges that he was a recruit for a North American terrorist cell with South Florida links that aided Islamic jihad abroad.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Garber denied bond for Padilla, who had been held in military detention for about four years before his transfer to Miami to face a criminal indictment.

''It was recovered by U.S. personnel in late 2001 after the United States began bombing Afghanistan,'' Justice Department lawyer Stephanie Pell said, referring to Padilla's alleged al Qaeda application.

She added it was found among 80 to 100 other mujahadeen (holy warrior) applications found in the country, which harbored al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden before he masterminded the Sept. 11, 2001, U.S. terrorist attacks.

''Several links in this case prove this is his document,'' Pell said after submitting it at Padilla's bond hearing.

whaaa???

U.S. Seeks to Avoid Detainee Ruling
The Bush administration took the unusual step yesterday of asking the Supreme Court to call off a landmark confrontation over the legality of military trials for terrorism suspects, arguing that a law enacted last month eliminates the court's ability to consider the issue.

In a 23-page brief, U.S. Solicitor General Paul D. Clement said the justices should throw out an appeal by Yemeni national Salim Hamdan, an alleged driver and bodyguard for Osama bin Laden, because a new statute governing the treatment of U.S. detainees "removes the court's jurisdiction to hear this action."

The brief represents the latest escalation in the showdown between the Bush administration and critics of the government over the legal rights of military detainees captured overseas. Hamdan's case is one of several high-stakes legal battles working their way through the courts, and the Supreme Court's November decision to consider his appeal was a blow to the government.