Victim shows jury 'torture scars'

Faryadi Sarwar Zardad denies the charges

A witness in a torture case has shown the jury scars from injuries inflicted by gunmen under the control of an alleged Afghan warlord.

Faryadi Sarwar Zardad denies conspiring to kidnap and torture in his homeland.

The first prosecution witness at the Old Bailey on Monday, Abdul Ghafour, said gunmen held him at a checkpoint.

He showed the jury scars on his wrists where he had been tied, and on his knee where he said he had been struck with a bayonet on the end of a gun.

The Crown claims the checkpoint, on the road from the Afghan capital Kabul to Jalalabad, was controlled by gunman loyal to Mr Zardad.

Mr Ghafour said when he had stopped at the checkpoint he was taken to a container nearby where other men where tied up.

Interrogation

With his hands tied behind a metal chair, he was questioned about where he was from and if he belonged to a party, he told the court.

Mr Ghafour said: "They started torturing me. They started hitting me at the questions they wanted me to say yes to.

"The man behind me hit me with a machine gun butt. I fell over.

"I still have the scars to my wrists from the rope tied to my hands."

I have a scar to my right knee because one of them struck me with a spike on the front of the barrel of a gun Abdul Ghafour

Mr Ghafour said: "I have a scar to my right knee because one of them struck me with a spike on the front of the barrel of a gun."

He showed the scars to the court at the request of the judge, Mr Justice Treacy.

Training denial

He told the court he had been beaten on an earlier occasion with the butts of Kalashnikov AK47 rifles as he travelled to Kabul.

It was near a base in the area the prosecution has alleged was commanded by Mr Zardad.

Cross examined by Mr Zardad's counsel, Anthony Jennings QC, he denied he had told a British police officer he attended a 15-day training camp involving AK47s, rocket launchers, bombs, mortars and anti-aircraft guns.

When asked by Mr Jennings: "Have you ever received any military training?", Mr Ghafour said: "No."

Jury query

The jury had earlier asked the Old Bailey judge to explain who was behind the prosecution.

The jurors, in a note to the judge, also asked if Mr Zardad had ever sought asylum in Britain or entered illegally.

Mr Justice Treacy told them evidence given in the case would clarify if the questions were relevant.

The jurors' note said it would be helpful to know the answers to the two questions.

The checkpoint was on the Kabul to Jalalabad road

Asking who was behind the prosecution, the jurors asked if it was a group of Afghan citizens, the Afghan government or "a wider platform?"

Mr Justice Treacy responded by saying: "We will have to wait and see if either of those questions is relevant to any issue in the case."

Historic case

The case is the first of its kind to be tried at the Old Bailey, and the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, is prosecuting.

Section 134 of the Criminal Justice Act allows Britain to try alleged torturers regardless of where the crime is alleged to have occurred.

It was adopted in 1988 in line with the United Nations Convention Against Torture.

Mr Zardad, 41, from Streatham, south London, denies conspiracy to torture and conspiracy to take hostages between 31 December 1991 and 30 September 1996.

The trial continues.