Judge denies Benghazi suspect’s bid to be returned to Libya
The Libyan being tried for the attack on our consulate in Benghazi tried to get a judge to quash his indictment and release him based on the illegality of the way he was brought to the US. The judge said no.
Read more at the link.A federal judge late Tuesday denied requests by the man accused of leading the attacks in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans in 2012 to be returned to Libya and spared the death penalty on murder charges because of what his defense called his unlawful seizure and interrogation by American authorities.Libyan militant Ahmed Abu Khattala, 44, pleaded not guilty in Oct. 2014 to an 18-count indictment, including charges of murder, conspiracy and destroying a U.S. facility, in the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks that killed U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three others.
The attacks, dramatized in the recent Paramount Pictures film “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi,” set in motion an ongoing U.S. investigation that led to Abu Khattala’s capture by U.S. Special Operations forces in Libya in a June 2014 raid.
Abu Khattala’s attorneys said his arrest and questioning for 13 days aboard a U.S. Navy ship without a lawyer violated his due process rights, Libya’s sovereignty under international law and a U.S. doctrine that limits the U.S. military’s role in law enforcement.