By Matthew Russell Lee
SDNY COURTHOUSE, July 25 – Accusing of trafficking heroin to support the Haqqani network in Afghanistan, the US Attorney's Office on April 4, 2019 asked that defendant Haji Abdul Satar Abdul Manaf be admonished to tell his family members in Afghanistan not to threaten witnesses. U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Paul Crotty was happy to do so, and set a control date 30 days out about discovery.
But an incongruity arose. It was said that Manaf can neither read nor write, yet the prosecutor referred to hundreds of text messages as being part of the discovery. Afterward, Inner City Press the only media present for the proceeding asked her to explain. She politely declined. Judge Crotty meanwhile asked Manaf's lawyer in what language she speaks with him - Urdu - then asked, You don't speak Pashtun?
Jump cut to July 25, 2024, when with Manaf on trial accompanied by five lawyers, one of them cross examined the prosecutors' Taliban expert Professor Tricia Bacon of American University. From Inner City Press thread:
Assistant US Attorney: How did the Taliban deal with those who worked with the US? Bacon: Heavy handed. They would kill and display the bodies. Cross-examination. Manaf's lawyee: The Taliban are terrorists, right? Bacon: Now they are the government.
Manaf's lawyer: But in 2018, did they provide any service beyond Islamic courts?
Bacon: No. The Taliban had mobile courts. They were not perceived as corrupt, or not as corrupt as the government's. [LOC map of Afghanistan shown to jury]
Manaf's lawyer: Did the Haqqanis control a border? Prof Bacon: Durand line Manaf's lawyer: What crops did Taliban tax? Bacon: Poppy. And some wheat. Manaf's defense lawyer: Let me show you a UN report...
The case is US v. Manaf, 18-cr-762 (Rakoff)
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