FBI Question Tunisian Attack Suspect without Lawyers
FBI agents on Friday questioned a Tunisian man suspected of involvement in a deadly September attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya, but in the absence of defense lawyers, his solicitor said.
"The judge prevented any lawyers from attending the questioning" of Ali Hamzi, Abdelbasset Ben Mbarek told AFP, adding that his client was interrogated as a suspect rather than as a witness.
He added that the American investigators themselves were not opposed to him being present.
The questioning continued late on Friday and was carried out by four FBI agents and a translator, Mbarek said, adding that the judge's decision was "disgraceful."
Hamzi, 26, refused on December 4 to be interrogated by FBI agents, with Mbarek denouncing what he called "interference" in the Tunisian judicial system.
The Tunisian police are cooperating with U.S. investigators over the September 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi that killed four Americans including ambassador Christopher Stevens, the interior ministry said.
Hamzi, who was arrested in Turkey and transferred to his home country exactly a month after the attack on the U.S. mission, has been charged with belonging to "a terrorist group based abroad."
Source: Agence France Presse
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