GANGSTERS & OUTLAWS > COPS & OTHER CHARACTERS

Jonathan Idema: Our Man in Kabul

Epilogue

Judge sentences Idema & others

On September 15, 2004, the trial of Jack Idema, along with Bennett, Caraballo and their Afghan associates, ended in Kabul. As expected, the men were convicted and the three Americans were each sentenced to 10 years in prison. Their Afghan counterparts received lighter sentences and were later released.

Afghan translator at sentencing

But that has not been the end of it.

Idema and the other Americans have appealed their sentence, arguing that the trial was marked by dramatic outbursts by Idema and bizarre courtroom antics on both sides. As an AFP reporter put it in a November 22 story on Idema's appeal, "Idema's trial was marked by chaotic scenes and was adjourned several times. On one occasion, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation handed over key documents to the defense partway through a hearing...For its part, the prosecution presented little in the way of evidence, limiting itself to stating its accusations, some of which were drawn from newspapers."

It is not immediately clear when the court will rule on Idema's appeal.

What is clear, however, is that while the court mulls its next move, Idema and his American colleagues are in a precarious position. Though their accommodations at the Pul-e-Charki prison in Kabul are luxurious by Afghan standards - they have access to e-mail and exercise facilities -- the Americans are surrounded by some of the same men they sought to arrest.

Just how dangerous their situation is became evident in December during an uprising at the prison, during which inmates killed three guards assigned to protect the Americans, apparently in an effort to get to them. In that incident, Idema, Bennett and Caraballo managed to avoid injury.

Brent Bennett

But even if the trio does manage to survive incarceration, and even if they do win their release on appeal, they will still probably face legal peril in the

United States

. As Idema's appeal draws nearer, the FBI, according to published reports and Idema loyalists, has been mounting an even more aggressive investigation into Idema's dealings in the United States, pressing friends and family members for information regarding Idema's activities and contacts in

Afghanistan

. Just last month, Idema's wife, Viktoria, was arrested on an old outstanding warrant from Texas, a warrant which was in effect long before Idema's arrest. According to Idema's supporters, Viktoria could have been executed while the FBI was monitoring her dog-walking business, had the agency decided to do it.

Perhaps it's just a coincidence, or perhaps the federal authorities are planning on prosecuting Idema when and if he is released from his Kabul prison. But if Idema's supporters are right, and the FBI is pursuing Idema's past in the United States with an unusually single-minded determination, it raises a question: Why? As one of Idema's supporters put it in a recent discussion, if Idema really is a fanatasist, a con man and a fraud, why bother? Why not simply let the Afghan system exact justice for offenses committed on its sovereign soil?

The answer to that is far from clear.

Perhaps, as Idema's long-time friend Ken Kelch put it, the government is hoping to appear tough on an American convicted of being a torturer while the pictures of American soldiers abusing naked prisoners in an Iraqi prison are still fresh in their minds. "We're looking for a scapegoat and who's better than loudmouth, look-at-me, watch-me Keith."

Or perhaps it's something even deeper than that.

Juan Gonzalez, a columnist for the New York Daily News, put it this way in a piece he wrote on September 23, 2004, just after Idema was convicted. After citing a string of irregularities in the trial, Gonzalez noted, that there were a number of critical documents, along with other evidence, that Idema's lawyer was never permitted to introduce.

"Among the documents...was a 2001 letter on Army stationery from an Army public affairs officer, Capt. Kirk Harrington, to a commander of Afghanistan's Northern Alliance.

"'I understand that Mr. Keith Idema has been working closely with the Northern Alliance in several areas,' Harrington wrote. 'Mr. Idema has been a tremendous asset as he assesses the situation there [in Afghanistan] and the tough issues facing the Northern Alliance. Appreciation for your valued assistance thus far and going forward concerning Mr. Idema is grateful.'"

"A letter of recommendation to anti-Taliban guerrillas from a lowly Army public affairs officer is hardly proof that Idema was a covert operative," Gonzalez wrote. "But it certainly suggests there's more to this bounty hunter story than the Pentagon has admitted."