INDIANAPOLIS, U.S.A: Federal prison officials are easing restrictions on 'American Taliban', John Walker Lindh, moves that his attorney said Wednesday will allow Lindh to tell his story for the first time.U.S. Bureau of Prisons spokesman Dean Boyd said the restrictions on Lindh, 28, will expire Friday. He said the current limits Lindh faces are not public and he cannot discuss them.
Although former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft first imposed restrictions on Lindh in March 2002, Boyd said they have been modified several times as "the perceived threat of Lindh's communications diminished."
Lindh, who grew up in Marin and graduated from Tamiscal High School in Larkspur, is serving a 20-year sentence for aiding Afghanistan's now defunct Taliban government.He was captured in Afghanistan in November 2001 by U.S. forces sent to topple the Taliban after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
He was charged with conspiring to kill Americans and supporting terrorists but pleaded guilty in 2002 to lesser offenses.
Lindh is incarcerated at a medium-security federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind., about 80 miles west of Indianapolis, with a scheduled release date of May 23, 2019.
Jim Brosnahan, a San Francisco attorney who represents Lindh, said Wednesday that he is pleased the restrictions are being lifted.
Among other things, he said the changes will allow Lindh to contact and meet with people other than his attorneys and relatives.
Lindh is incarcerated at a medium-security federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind., about 80 miles west of Indianapolis, with a scheduled release date of May 23, 2019.
Jim Brosnahan, a San Francisco attorney who represents Lindh, said Wednesday that he is pleased the restrictions are being lifted.
Among other things, he said the changes will allow Lindh to contact and meet with people other than his attorneys and relatives.
Brosnahan said the current restrictions have prevented Lindh from telling his side of the story of how he ended up aiding Islamic fundamentalists who ran an oppressive Afghan regime.
Courtesy: Marin Independent Journal
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