Pakistani Court Finds Americans Guilty on Terror Charges
24 June 2010
A Pakistani court has sentenced five Americans to 10 years each in prison after finding them guilty of terror offenses.
Pakistani officials announced the verdict Thursday in the eastern city of Sargodha. They said the court convicted the Americans, all Muslims in their early 20s, on two terror charges and also fined each $821.
Prosecutors had been asking for life in prison, and Deputy Prosecutor Rana Bakhtiar said officials will appeal to the country's high court for a longer sentence.
Pakistan accused the Americans, all from the Washington area, of plotting attacks in Pakistan, and of seeking to join Islamist militants fighting in Afghanistan.
Pakistani police said they found e-mails and other evidence that showed the five Americans had contacted militants and were intent on committing a crime.
The Americans claim they are innocent, and have said they were tortured by U.S. and Pakistani authorities while in jail. The United States and Pakistan deny the allegation.
Pakistani officials said the Americans have the right to appeal the verdict.
The judge sentenced each man to two prison terms - a term of ten years for conspiracy and a term of five years for funding a banned organization - but said the sentences can be served simultaneously.
Pakistani officials arranged tight security for the trial, and journalists were not allowed in the courtroom.
Two of the Americans are of Pakistani descent. The others are of Egyptian, Eritrean and Yemeni origin.
Pakistani police detained them in Pakistan's Punjab province in December.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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