Jose Padilla's Attorney Calls Guilty Verdict "Huge Tragedy", Vows Appeal

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http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/17/1323250

Jose Padilla's Attorney Calls Guilty Verdict "Huge Tragedy", Vows Appeal


Jose Padilla has been convicted in one of the most closely watched trials since the Sept. 11 attacks. On Thursday, a Miami jury found Padilla and two co-defendants guilty of conspiracy to commit murder in Bosnia, Kosovo and Chechnya and providing material support toward that goal. Padilla was initially declared an “enemy combatant” for allegedly plotting to set off a radioactive dirty bomb inside the United States. He was stripped of all rights, transferred to a Navy brig in South Carolina and held in extreme isolation for 43 months. The Bush administration denied him access to an attorney for two years. Faced with a Supreme Court challenge, President Bush announced criminal charges against Padilla unrelated to the dirty bomb plot. Defense attorneys and experts say his isolation and interrogation has led to severe psychological effects. We speak with Padilla attorney Andrew Patel, who calls the verdict “a huge tragedy” and vows an appeal. A jury in Miami convicted Jose Padilla on Thursday in one of the most closely watched trials since the Sept. 11 attacks. The jury of seven women and five men found Padilla and his two co-defendants guilty of conspiracy to commit murder in Bosnia, Kosovo and Chechnya and providing material support toward that goal. The three men will be sentenced on Dec. 5. Padilla originally made international headlines in 2002 when President Bush declared Padilla an enemy combatant for allegedly plotting to set off a radioactive dirty bomb inside the United States. Padilla was stripped of all rights and transferred to a Navy brig in South Carolina where he was held in extreme isolation for 43 months. Even though Padilla was a U.S. citizen, the Bush administration denied him access to an attorney for two years.

Faced with a Supreme Court challenge, President Bush announced criminal charges against Padilla unrelated to the alleged dirty bomb plot. After 43 months of extreme isolation, Jose Padilla was transferred from the South Carolina brig to a civilian prison. Padilla’s attorneys argued that he was unfit to stand trial because of the effects of torture. Forensic Psychiatrist Angela Hegarty examined Padilla last year and concluded the extreme isolation and torture had left Padilla essentially brain damaged. She appeared on Democracy Now yesterday in her first broadcast interview.

Angela Hegarty: “What happened at the brig was essentially the destruction of a human being's mind. That’s what happened at the brig. His personality was deconstructed and reformed.”

But the judge allowed the trial to go forward. One of Jose Padilla’s attorneys, Andrew Patel, joins us on the line from Miami.

* Andrew Patel. Attorney for Jose Padilla.