Associated Press
December 11

n Uzbekistan national charged with entering the United States on a fraudulently obtained diplomatic visa has asked a federal judge to throw out statements made to the FBI and immigration agents during an interrogation.

A lawyer said Davat M. Norqulov, detained after an eastern Arkansas traffic stop, was not advised of his constitutional rights before being questioned Sept. 25.

Public defender Jennifer Horan said that after agents told Norqulov of his right to remain silent before a Sept. 28 meeting with agents, the man refused to answer.

"Since the defendant was in custody when he was interrogated on Sept. 25, 2001, he should have been advised of his Miranda rights," Horan wrote.

"Since the defendant was not so advised, his Miranda rights and (Constitutional) rights were violated and his statement must be suppressed," she said.

Horan said FBI and Immigration and Naturalization Service agents interviewed Norqulov at the Cross County Jail and accused him of being in the United States illegally and of being a terrorist.

Norqulov was among five people stopped in a speeding van at Parkin early Sept. 25, two weeks after terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. The officer who made the stop believed there was a possible match to a name on an FBI watch list.

U.S. Attorney Michael Johnson has said the case against Norqulov is not related to the attacks. An indictment handed up last month said the Uzbek entered the United States on a diplomatic visa obtained fraudulently from the U.S. Embassy in his home country.

Another man named in the same indictment, Anvarjon B. Kuliev, is charged with three counts of transporting illegal aliens and one count of possession of false identification.

Norqulov, Kuliev, Kamolakham Tuychieva, Utkur Hasanov and a fifth person later released were riding in the van.

A federal magistrate has ordered Hasanov and Tuychieva detained as material witnesses in the case. They will face deportation proceedings.

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