UK court convicts Afghan warlord of 'heinous' crimes

[N.O.R.F]

Press Association

Monday July 18, 2005

 

An Afghan warlord was today convicted at his Old Bailey retrial of a "heinous" campaign of torture and hostage-taking in his homeland.

As part of Faryadi Sarwar Zardad's reign of terror in Afghanistan between 1992 and 1996, he and his men had kept a "human dog" to savage victims, the court heard.

 

Zardad was tracked down in London, where he was arrested and accused of plotting to take hostages and torture them. Many of his victims - some in fear of their lives - gave evidence from the British embassy in Kabul in two groundbreaking trials.

 

In the first, last year, jurors were unable to agree a verdict and the prosecution decided Zardad should be retried. The total cost of the case is estimated to have exceeded £3m.

 

Officials made several trips to Afghanistan. Under armed escort, they tracked down Zardad's alleged victims and arranged for them to give evidence via video link from the embassy.

 

Zardad, 41, who lived in Gleneagles Road, Streatham, in south London, denied conspiracy to torture and conspiracy to take hostages between 1992 and 1996.

 

After the jurors returned their verdicts the judge, Mr Justice Treacy, told them they had been involved "in a difficult and historic case".

 

Prosecutors said Zardad and his men had created a culture of fear in the civilian population he controlled - "part of which inevitably involved the crimes of hostage-taking and torture".

 

Zardad had been in charge of the road from Kabul to Jalabadad, in the Sarobi area, where he set up checkpoints that were merciless, alleged the attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, who came to the court for the first time since his appointment to prosecute at the start of the first trial.

 

"We believe this to be the first time in any country in international law, and certainly in English law, where offences of torture and hostage-taking have been prosecuted in circumstances such as this," he told the first trial, adding that it was unusual for a British criminal court to try a case related to matters that had not occurred in the UK.

 

"It is more unusual still to try matters when the defendant is not a British subject, nor the victims British. However, there are some crimes which are so heinous, such an affront to justice, that they can be tried in any country."

 

At the first trial, Lord Goldsmith alleged that a "human dog" had been kept in a hole, and would be set upon civilians, "biting and attacking them to further the fear and terror".

 

Only hearsay evidence of the "dog" emerged during the first trial. At the retrial, however, some evidence did emerge from a witness: an Afghan said a man known as Zardad's dog had bitten a man at a checkpoint when he failed to distribute grapes to soldiers quickly enough.

 

Zardad's men had used "indiscriminate and unwarranted violence on innocent civilian travellers", the prosecution said.

 

The court heard that they "would beat, wound and even shoot and kill civilians. They would detain and imprison them. They would hold them for ransom or exchange civilians taken at the checkpoint or elsewhere."

 

One witness said he had been held for months and beaten so often that his family failed to recognise him on his return. Another recounted being bayoneted. He showed the judge and jury his scarred leg. One boy spoke of seeing his father tortured.

 

The court was told Zardad had fought both the Russians and the Taliban in Afghanistan. Zardad said he had never tortured anyone and had given orders against torturers; neither had he conspired to take hostages.

 

He came to Britain in 1998 on a fake passport, started living on benefits and sought asylum. However, when he learned he was being investigated in Afghanistan, he dropped his application.

 

Zardad was tracked down to his suburban home in south London by John Simpson, for BBC's Newsnight. The programme was seen by a member of the parliamentary human rights committee and referred to the Home Office, which asked anti-terrorist branch officers to investigate.

 

"By securing this conviction, the Crown Prosecution Service has shown there is no hiding place here for torturers and hostage-takers," the director of public prosecutions, Ken Macdonald, said.

 

"Our lawyers have worked relentlessly to prepare this case - including visits to Afghanistan - and have overcome the difficulties of proving crimes committed in another country over 10 years ago.

 

"Zardad's actions and those of his men were horrific. Through our witnesses, we were able to tell the jury of his reign of terror. The victims, many of whom are still terrified of Zardad, showed great courage in helping us present our case."

[Warrior of Light]

If it is true, i.e zardad did commit/order heinous crimes Im proud that the british courts have brought another mischief maker to justice.

[Final_Say]

now we just need to get tony blair on stand to face charges of murder, and crimes against humanity,

 

never the less, it is good to see something good come out of the courts and police

[Haddad]

I don't see the point in tracking down and convicting men like Sarwar Zardad. Such men are abound today in Afghanistan, thanks to the US, the UK and the coalition. What's the point of convicting a Sarwar Zardad when the coalition has expanded the existence of hundreds Sarwar Zardads?