AFGHANISTAN 3 Americans guilty of torturing at jail

Three judges voted unanimously to convict.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Three Americans accused of torturing Afghans in a private jail were found guilty today in a Kabul court after a trial denounced by the defense as failing to meet basic international standards of fairness.
The three-judge panel sentenced accused ringleader Jonathan Idema, a former soldier with a past fraud conviction, and his right-hand man, Brent Bennett, to 10 years in jail. Edward Caraallo, who said he was filming the two for a documentary on counterterrorism, received an eight-year term. Four Afghan accomplices were sentenced to terms ranging from one to five years.
Idema has claimed to have high-level contacts at the Pentagon in his group's efforts to hunt down terrorists, but the U.S. military says the men were free-lancers operating outside the law and without its knowledge.
Unanimous verdict
Presiding Judge Abdul Baset Bakhtyari issued the unanimous verdict after a 7 1/2-hour session.
Idema, who attended each hearing wearing sunglasses and khaki fatigues bearing a U.S. flag, denounced the decision as a throwback to the times of the hard-line Taliban movement.
"It's the same sick Taliban judges, the same sick sense of justice," Idema said as he was led, handcuffed, out of the courtroom. "I knew that the American government wasn't going to help me."
Bilking companies
Idema spent three years in jail in the 1980s for allegedly bilking 60 companies out of more than $200,000. He and Bennett are from Fayetteville, N.C.; Caraballo is from New York. The lawyer for Idema and Caraballo said they would appeal. It was unclear whether Bennett, who was representing himself, would follow suit. It was also unclear what would happen to the four young Afghans, one of whom broke down in tears after the verdict.
The group was arrested July 5 after Afghan security forces raided a house in downtown Kabul and discovered eight Afghans who said they had been detained by the Americans and tortured.
Today's proceedings were the most orderly yet in a trial mired by chaotic procedures, dismal translation and constant outbursts from Idema.
No cross-examination
The defense was given no chance to cross-examine witnesses but was allowed to play several videotapes shot by Caraballo showing Idema meeting a man identified as a U.S. Army captain coordinating counterterrorism operations in Kabul, and speaking by phone to officials Idema said were at the Defense Department and the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan.
The supposed captain said on tape that Idema's group was "rolling up AQ [Al-Qaida] like it's nobody's business."
Other footage showed them being greeted at Kabul's airport by its director and the city police chief, and meeting with commanders of the Afghan government's militia forces.
The three said their entry was arranged by Afghanistan's ambassador to India, a senior member of the Northern Alliance who has known Idema for several years, though they acknowledged not having visas.
"It's ridiculous to claim they entered illegally under these circumstances," defense lawyer Robert Fogelnest said.