Terror suspect seeks suppression of statements he made during his detention in Navy brig

Monday, January 8th 2007, 9:54 pm

By: News On 6

MIAMI (AP) _ Attorneys for suspected al-Qaida operative Jose Padilla asked a federal judge Monday to keep statements he made during his detention in a Navy brig out of evidence in the U.S. government's terrorism support case against him.

Padilla has claimed he was tortured during 3 1/2 years in military custody as an enemy combatant, allegations the Justice Department and Pentagon officials have repeatedly denied.

His prolonged confinement and abuse from interrogators render involuntary any statements he made during his time in the brig, according to a motion filed in U.S. District Court.

``The action of the government agents in this case constitute police coercion and overreaching at its highest,'' the motion states. ``Consequently, the government has forfeited the right to use these statements for any purpose at Mr. Padilla's trial.''

A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office declined to comment Monday. Messages left for Padilla's public defenders were not immediately returned.

Also Monday, federal prosecutors asked the court to reconsider its deadline for completing mental examinations to determine whether Padilla is competent to stand trial.

U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke last week gave prison officials until Friday to complete the examinations. Bureau of Prisons officials want until Jan. 30 to finish the tests and until Feb. 15 to submit their report.

Padilla, a 36-year-old U.S. citizen, is charged with two others in the U.S. with being part of a support cell that provided money, recruits and supplies to violent Islamic extremists around the world. All three have pleaded not guilty. Two others charged in the case are in custody overseas.

Padilla was arrested in 2002 at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in what U.S. officials originally called a plot to detonate a radioactive ``dirty bomb'' in the United States. President Bush designated him an enemy combatant, and he was held without criminal charge at a Navy brig in South Carolina until he was added to the Miami terrorism support case in late 2005.

The dirty bomb allegations are not mentioned in the Miami indictment.