Russian fighter suspected of terrorism and held in Afghanistan to be prosecuted in U.S. - The Washington Post:
A Russian captured fighting with insurgents in Afghanistan and held for years at a detention facility near Bagram air base will be flown to the United States to be prosecuted in federal court, according to U.S. officials.
The move marks the first time a foreign combatant captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan and held by the U.S military at Bagram will be transferred to the United States for trial, a decision the Obama administration has weighed for months. With combat operations winding down, the administration’s authority to continue to hold the man was in question, and U.S. officials said Russia had little interest in getting him back.
The detainee, known by the nom de guerre Irek Hamidullan, is suspected of leading several insurgent attacks in 2009 in which U.S. troops were wounded or killed. He was captured that year after being wounded in a firefight.
Congress was recently notified that Hamidullan would be transferred to the United States, officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the decision to prosecute him had not been released publicly.
Congress has barred the transfer to the United States for prosecution or continued detention of prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but has not enacted a similar law preventing the movement of those held in Afghanistan.
A spokesman for the Justice Department’s National Security Division declined to comment. It is not clear what terrorism charges Hamidullan will face.
