RICHMOND, Va. (Reuters) - A former Soviet army officer accused of being a Taliban fighter goes on trial on Thursday as the first military prisoner from Afghanistan to be tried in U.S. federal court.
Irek Hamidullin, believed to be in his 50s, faces 15 criminal counts ranging from supporting terrorists to firearms charges related to his alleged orchestration of a 2009 attack on an Afghan Border Police base in eastern Afghanistan's Khost province.
His trial had been scheduled to begin on Monday in Richmond's U.S. District Court. Judge Henry Hudson ordered it delayed to give Hamidullin's lawyers time to examine Defense Department evidence turned over on Saturday.