Lawyers for accused leader of Benghazi attacks seek sanction for alleged illegal interrogation
Lawyers for a man accused of leading the attacks on the U.S. embassy compound in Benghazi, Libya, contend that his interrogation while on a U.S. Navy ship violated his right to due process.
Assistant Federal Defender Mary Petras told a federal judge on Thursday that her client, Ahmed Abu Khattala, should be sent back to Libya to sanction the government for its conduct, report the Associated Press and the Washington Post.
An alternative, Petras said, was to eliminate the possibility of a death penalty in the case.
Petras says her client was captured overseas; questioned for five days aboard a ship by law enforcement and U.S. military officials; then questioned for another seven days after FBI agents read him his Miranda rights. Khattala asked for a lawyer but none was available, according to Petras.
She says the questioning violated due process and a doctrine that limits the military’s role in law enforcement.
U.S. District Judge Casey Cooper is considering Petras’ request, though AP says it “appears unlikely to be granted.”
The 2012 Benghazi attacks killed U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.
