An Afghan man on trial at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba says guards subjected him to 14 days of sleep deprivation.
Mohammad Jawad told a military judge during a pre-trial hearing Thursday that he was shifted from one cell to another 112 times during two weeks in May 2004, a process that has been dubbed the "frequent flyer" program. He said guards kept the lights on in his cell and made loud noises to prevent him from sleeping.
Jawad's lawyer argued that the treatment amounted to torture, and urged the judge to drop the attempted murder charges against his client.
Prosecutors countered that the treatment was not torture and did not merit having the charges dropped.
Jawad is charged with attempted murder in connection with a grenade attack in Afghanistan in 2002 that left two U.S. soldiers and their interpreter wounded.
Jawad's lawyer also claims the former military legal advisor to Guantanamo Bay, Brigadier General Thomas Hartman, pressured prosecutors to bring charges against Jawad to gain public support for the military trials.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
