RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – A Russian man charged with leading a Taliban attack against U.S. forces in Afghanistan repeated his pleas of not guilty to terrorism-related charges Tuesday.
Irek Hamidullin was arraigned on a new 15-count indictment in U.S. District Court in Richmond. He previously pleaded not guilty to 12 charges. Three additional counts of trying to kill or injure an American were added in a new indictment last week.
Hamidullin is being held in federal custody until his five-day jury trial, which is set for July 27.
Handcuffed and wearing leg irons, Hamidullin listened to the proceedings Tuesday with the help of an Arabic translator and answered “not guilty” in English when asked for his plea.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Gill said many of charges, including providing material support to terrorism and trying to destroy U.S. military aircraft, are punishable by up to life in prison. Attorney General Eric Holder chose not to seek the death penalty for a charge of using a weapon of mass destruction.
Hamidullin is the first military detainee from Afghanistan to be brought to the U.S. for trial. The Obama administration is trying to show that it can use the criminal court system to deal with terror suspects – a move criticized by some Republican lawmakers who believe such cases should be handled by military tribunals.
According to U.S. officials, Hamidullin is a Russian veteran of the Soviet war in Afghanistan who stayed in the country and joined the Taliban. He was captured in 2009 after an attack on Afghan border police and U.S. soldiers in Khowst province. He had been held at the U.S. Parwan detention facility at Bagram airfield before being brought to the U.S.
*** While we have not been paying much attention on November 4, 2014:
WASHINGTON—Irek Ilgiz Hamidullin made his first appearance today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on federal terrorism offenses arising from his alleged participation in an attack on U.S. troops and Afghan Border Police in the Khost Province of Afghanistan in November 2009.
Hamidullin was indicted by a federal grand jury on twelve counts, including conspiring to provide and providing material support to terrorists; conspiring and attempting to destroy an aircraft of the armed forces of the United States; conspiring and attempting to murder a national of the United States; and other offenses.
The charges carry a potential maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Hamidullin, a Russian national approximately 55 years of age, was taken into custody in November 2009 and held by the Department of Defense in Afghanistan until being turned over to the FBI on Nov. 3 and brought to the United States to face charges.
The defendant was indicted on Oct. 8, 2014, and the charging document was unsealed today.
Arraignment is set for Friday at 10:00 a.m. in front of U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson at the federal courthouse in Richmond, Virginia.
An indictment is merely a formal allegation that a defendant has committed a violation of criminal laws and every defendant is presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office with substantial assistance from various other government agencies. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
