Afghan torture trial begins in UK

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BBC News


Attorney-General Lord Goldsmith will open Mr Sarwar's trial

The trial of an Afghan man charged with conspiring to kidnap and torture in his homeland has begun in London.

Zardad Faryadi Sarwar, 42, denies the crimes, including keeping a "human dog", allegedly committed between 1991-96.

The case is the first of its kind to be tried at the Old Bailey, and possibly anywhere in the world.

Section 134 of the Criminal Justice Act allows Britain to try alleged torturers regardless of where the crime is alleged to have occurred.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3725422.stm

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1. Landmark torture trial opens at Old Bailey

Afghan warlord now living in south London accused of 'heinous' offences at checkpoint

Sandra Laville
Saturday October 9, 2004
The Guardian

Graphic accounts of beatings, mock executions and the imprisonment and killings of men and boys at a checkpoint in Afghanistan were described to a jury at the Old Bailey yesterday by the attorney general as he opened the first torture prosecution of its kind in the world.

In the dock of court nine an Afghan man from Streatham, south London, sat taking notes and sipping water. Wearing a jumper and tracksuit bottoms, Faryadi Sarwar Zardad, 42, bent his head towards an interpreter seated next to him as the charges against him - conspiracy to torture and conspiracy to take hostages - were outlined. He denies the charges.

Lord Goldsmith said it was believed to be the first time that an alleged torturer had been prosecuted in one jurisdiction for offences said to have been carried out in another. <snip>

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1323312,00.html