US Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh is released from prison after 17 years
But leaked US government documents show the federal government as recently as 2016 described Lindh as holding ‘extremist views’
John Walker Lindh, the American captured in Afghanistan in 2001 fighting for the Taliban, was released early from federal prison on Thursday, the Washington Post reported, citing Lindh’s lawyer. Lindh, who was 20 years old when he was captured, left prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, on probation after serving 17 years of a 20-year sentence, the newspaper said. Now 38, Lindh is among dozens of prisoners to be released over the next few years after being captured in Iraq and Afghanistan and convicted of terrorism-related crimes following the attacks on the US by al-Qaeda on September 11 2001. His release brought objections from elected officials who asked why Lindh was being freed early and what training parole officers had to spot radicalisation and recidivism among former jihadists. US secretary of state Mike Pompeo called Lindh’s release “unexplainable and unconscionable”. “There’s something deeply troubling and wrong about it,” he said on Fox News on Thursday morning. Leaked US gove...
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