NEW YORK: A US judge has relaxed slightly the stringent custody conditions of Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, allowing him to correspond with his beauty queen wife.
The 60-year-old kingpin, accused of running one of the world’s biggest drug empires, has been held in solitary confinement since being extradited to New York on January 19.
Federal Judge Brian Cogan ruled that Guzman, one of the world’s most notorious criminals, could send written messages to his wife — provided they were pre-screened by federal agencies — but denied him family visits and phone calls.
Guzman’s wife Emma Coronel, 27, is the mother of his twins.
The 18-page ruling similarly allowed his defense team’s pre-cleared investigator to visit without an attorney present, following complaints from Guzman’s lawyers about the conditions of his pre-trial detention.
But Cogan refused a request for Amnesty International to visit on the grounds that there was “absolutely no reason.”
The London-based rights groups in March asked to speak with Guzman, expressing concern that the conditions of his detention “appear to be unnecessarily harsh and to breach international standards for human treatment.”
Cogan also flatly denied a request by Guzman — who twice escaped from prisons in Mexico — to have his “special administrative measures” lifted in full or for him to be moved out of solitary confinement.
“The conditions are reasonably necessary to ensure that defendant cannot coordinate any escape from prison, direct any violence against cooperators, or manage any aspect of the Sinaloa Cartel’s enterprise,” he wrote.
He went on to write that Guzman’s second jail break in Mexico “was accomplished under 24-hour video surveillance in solitary confinement.”
The decision came one day before Guzman is due to appear in court for another pre-trial hearing. His wife is also expected to attend.
His lawyer Michelle Gelernt welcomed permission for her client to swap letters with his wife as “small comfort” but said it was “devastating news for both of them” to be denied visits and calls.
“We continue to believe that the conditions of Mr. Guzman’s detention, including being held in solitary confinement, are untenable,” she said in a statement.
“We will continue to fight for his right to fair and humane treatment.”
Cogan has denied Guzman visits from anyone other than his lawyers or permission to communicate with potential witnesses.
Cogan’s ruling revealed that Guzman is visited by his lawyers almost every day at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, for an average of four to five hours in a windowed visitor room.
The judge ordered US prosecutors to “cease any communications with MCC staff,” in which prison employees report back on the content of those meetings.
In March, the defense complained Guzman’s health was deteriorating in custody, and claimed that he experienced “auditory hallucinations.”
Guzman pleaded not guilty to firearms, drug trafficking and conspiracy charges. If convicted, he is likely to spend the rest of his life in a maximum security US prison.
US allows ‘El Chapo’ to write to wife from behind bars
US allows ‘El Chapo’ to write to wife from behind bars
Pakistan killed over 80 militants in strikes on TTP camps in Afghanistan — official
- Saturday’s airstrikes followed a series of attacks inside Pakistan amid a surge in militancy
- The Afghan Taliban authorities accuse Pakistani forces of killing civilians in the airstrikes
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s airstrikes in Afghanistan destroyed seven Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) camps and killed over 80 militants, a Pakistani security official said on Sunday, with the Afghan Taliban accusing Pakistani forces of killing civilians in the assault.
Saturday’s airstrikes followed a series of attacks inside Pakistan amid a surge in militancy. Authorities say the attacks, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, were carried out by the TTP and allied groups that Islamabad alleges are operating from sanctuaries in Afghanistan. Kabul denies this.
According to Pakistan’s information ministry, recent incidents included a suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in Islamabad, separate attacks in Bajaur and Bannu, and another recent incident in Bannu during the holy month of Ramadan, which started earlier this week. The government said it had “conclusive evidence” linking the attacks to militants directed by leadership based in Afghanistan.
“Last night, Pakistan’s intelligence-based air strikes destroyed seven centers of Fitna Al-Khawarij TTP in three provinces of Nangarhar, Paktika and Khost, in which more than eighty Khawarij (TTP militants) have been confirmed killed, while more are expected,” a Pakistani security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Arab News.
An earlier statement from Pakistan’s information ministry said the targets included a camp of a Daesh regional affiliate, the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), which claimed a suicide bombing at an Islamabad Shiite mosque that killed 32 people this month.
In an X post, Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistani forces had violated Afghan territory.
“Pakistani special military circles have once again trespassed into Afghan territory,” Mujahid said. “Last night, they bombed our civilian compatriots in Nangarhar and Paktika provinces, martyring and wounding dozens of people, including women and children.”
The Afghan Taliban’s claims of civilian casualties could not be independently verified. Pakistan did not immediately comment on the allegation that civilians had been killed in the strikes.
In a post on X, Afghanistan’s foreign ministry said it had summoned Pakistan’s charge d’affaires to Afghanistan Ubaid-ur-Rehman Nizamani and lodged protest through a formal démarche in response to the Pakistani military strikes.
“IEA-MoFA (The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs) vehemently condemns the violation of Afghanistan’s airspace and the targeting of civilians, describing it as a flagrant breach of Afghanistan’s territorial integrity & a provocative action,” it said in a statement.
“The Pakistani side was also categorically informed that safeguarding Afghanistan’s territorial integrity is the religious responsibility of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan; henceforth, the responsibility for any adverse consequences of such actions will rest with the opposing side.”
Tensions between Islamabad and Kabul have escalated since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in 2021. Pakistan says cross-border militant attacks have increased since then and has accused the Taliban of failing to honor commitments under the 2020 Doha Agreement to prevent Afghan soil from being used for attacks against other countries. The Taliban deny allowing such activity and have previously rejected similar accusations.
Saturday’s exchange of accusations marks one of the most direct confrontations between the two neighbors in recent months and risks further straining already fragile ties along the volatile border.
