Fired US Attorney Is a Gitmo Prosecutor in Case of Teen Captured in Afghanistan
Fired U.S. Attorney David Iglesias is back in the news, this time for his role in the prosecution of a Canadian teen captured on an Afghanistan battlefield.
Iglesias, a captain in the Navy reserves, was mobilized to Guantanamo’s military commissions last year, the Miami Herald reports. Now he is part of a Pentagon prosecution team arguing that confessions made by Omar Khadr, captured at the age of 15, should be allowed at his trial that begins in July.
Iglesias was one of nine U.S. attorneys fired by the U.S. Justice Department in controversial moves that were derided as politically motivated. Critics questioned whether Iglesias was fired for failing to speed up political corruption cases that could have helped a Republican lawmaker win re-election.
On Thursday, Khadr’s hearing got off to a slow start when he refused to wear blacked-out goggles and earmuffs as he was driven to court in the back of a windowless van, according to the Washington Post and a separate story by the Miami Herald. Military officials say the equipment is required for security reasons. But Khadr told a prison camp lawyer that the purpose was to humiliate him.
