John Walker Lindh: US-born Taliban fighter can pray daily with other Muslim inmates

Lindh housed at high-security prison in Indiana.

John Walker Lindh, American who was captured along with Taliban fighters
Photographer: AP Graphics Bank
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Regular Photo Size

Posted: 01/11/2013

By: CHARLES WILSON Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- A federal judge has ruled that a convicted Taliban fighter should be allowed to pray daily in a group with other Muslim inmates at their high-security prison in Indiana.

   U.S. District Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson sided on Friday with John Walker Lindh, an American convicted of fighting alongside the Taliban.

   The judge ruled that the prison was violating Lindh's and other Muslim inmates' religious freedom by banning them from engaging in daily ritual prayer.

   Lindh is serving a 20-year sentence for aiding the Taliban during the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.

   He sued the government after he was barred from praying with other inmates, which he said violated his religious rights. Prison officials had argued that it would be dangerous, unaffordable and unfair to other inmates.