Gitmo Prosecutor Turns Jawad Defense Witness Over Prosecution’s Evidence Suppression , Boss Demands Psych Eval”¦

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) – Pentagon officials are trying to discredit a military prosecutor who alleges evidence was suppressed in an upcoming war-crimes trial at Guantanamo Bay, a defense lawyer said in court on Thursday.Air Force Maj. David Frakt said the chief prosecutor for the military commissions at Guantanamo is seeking a psychological exam for Army Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld, who quit as a prosecutor in a case against an Afghan for what he called ethical reasons.

Vandeveld has offered to testify for the defense, according to Frakt, attorney for Mohammed Jawad, who was a teenager when he was accused of throwing a grenade that wounded two American soldiers and their interpreter in December 2002.

Frakt made the disclosure at a pretrial hearing where he is seeking the dismissal of war crimes charges against his client, now 23.

Vandeveld’s replacement as lead prosecutor in the case, Air Force Lt. Col. Doug Stevenson, said the allegations of ethical problems were “ridiculous.”

“There is absolutely no exculpatory evidence in this case that has not been provided to the defense,” Stevenson told the judge.

Frakt described a coordinated effort to discredit Vandeveld and keep him from testifying. He said a Pentagon official who oversaw the tribunals until last week, Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann, prepared talking points for the media disparaging Vandeveld.

“He is very intimately involved in the effort to prevent Col. Vandeveld from being able to testify,” Frakt told the judge.

The judge, Army Col. Steve Henley, ordered the government to allow Vandeveld to testify by video link Thursday afternoon.

Vandeveld’s turnabout has triggered new criticism of the integrity of the military commissions. Other insiders, including a former chief prosecutor, previously said the war-crimes trials are riddled with ethical lapses and political interference, allegations denied by the government.

Jawad, who was captured in Afghanistan when he was 16 or 17, faces a maximum life sentence at a trial scheduled to begin in December at this U.S. Navy base in southeast Cuba.

Vandeveld has told defense lawyers that his office knew Jawad may have been drugged before the grenade attack and that the Afghan Interior Ministry said two other men had confessed to the same crime, according to Michael Berrigan, deputy chief defense counsel for the Guantanamo tribunals.

In a written declaration, Vandeveld said he wanted to offer Jawad a plea deal that would allow him to receive rehabilitation during a short period of additional confinement. His bosses disagreed.

“As a juvenile at the time of his capture, Jawad should have been segregated from the adult detainees, and some serious attempt made to rehabilitate him,” Vandeveld wrote. “I am bothered by the fact that this was not done.”

Jawad is one of roughly two dozen Guantanamo detainees facing charges. Military prosecutors say they plan trials for about 80 of the 255 men held here on suspicion of links to al-Qaida or the Taliban.